
Class : , t"t £^ 

Book . SS' __ 
Copyright N"* 



COPVRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




James J. Hill. 
President Great Northern Railroad Systems. 



Feeding Farm 
Animals 



By 

Thomas Shaw 

Late Professor of A nimal Husbandry at the University of Minnesota 
Author of Animal Breeding, the Study of Breeds, etc. 



ILLUSTRA TED 



New York 
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 

London 

Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Limited 

1907 



^ 



5' 



•K- 



^^ 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two CoDles Received 

AUG 23 »90r 

CPDvnrW Entry 
4/t U^li^^l 



CLAS 



LASS ^ XXC, No. 
COPY J. 



Copyright. 1907. by 

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 

All Rights Reserved 



Entered at Stationers' Hall 
LONDON. ENGLAND 



To JAMES J. HILL 


President 


of the Great Northern Railroad Systems 


This Book 


is Respectfully Dedicated 


in recognition of the great work that 


he has accomphshed for the develop- 


ment of agriculture in the United 


States. 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 

In preparing this book, the author freely consulted 
works previously written on the subject, more especially, 
"Manual of Cattle Feeding," by Dr. H. P. Armsby, 'Feeds 
and Feeding" by Prof. W. A. Henry, and "Profitable Stock 
Feeding" by Prof. H. R. Smith ; also various bulletins issued 
by the experiment stations and the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. To all these sources he desires to ex- 
oress his indebtedness for the aid thus rendered. 



THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 

Several valuable books have been written on the sub- 
ject of feeding live stock, and those interested have reason 
to be grateful to the men who wrote them. But the criti- 
cism has been made, that some of these are too scientific in 
their treatment of the subject to meet the needs of the prac- 
tical feeder, that the discussions in some are so general and 
diffuse and so lacking in sequence, that the labor involved 
in securing specific information from them is too great, 
and that others more specific in their methods of treatment, 
are helpful chiefly to those only who live in areas where 
certain leading foodstuffs are abundantly grown. The need, 
therefore, for something additional on the subject will be 
at once conceded by those who are familiar with its needs. 

Those who have thought carefully upon the subject of 
feeding farm animals will subscribe to the statement, that 
it is one of the most comprehensive and difficult questions 
to discuss that pertain to the broad field of agriculture. So 
comprehensive is it tiiat in the judgment of the author, no 
single treatise can cover a field so broad with sufficient 
fulness. An attemiJt, therefore, will not be made to produce 
such a book, as it must result in more or less of failure. 

To cover the whole subject the author has planned, if 
spared, to write five books, the present being the first of 
the series. In it the aim has been to prepare a work adapted 
to the needs of the student and stockman that would suc- 
cinctly and fully cover the subject of feeding and foods in a 
general way, by dwelling, first on the leading principles or 
laws that govern feeding; second, on ty])e in the animals to 



VIII AUTHOR S PREFACE 

be fed and the balancing of foods for them; third, on the 
foods used in feeding; and fourth, on the more important 
considerations that apply to successful feeding. It has also 
been the constant aim to observe that sequence in treatment 
that would be natural, orderly and complete ; to discuss 
the subject with a comprehensiveness that would cover con- 
ditions in all parts of the United States and Canada; and 
in a manner so simple that any reader may readily under- 
stand what is read. 

The books that will follow will discuss the feeding and 
management of cattle, sheep, swine and horses, respectively, 
one volume being devoted to each, and each book being 
complete in itself. In preparing these, special emphasis 
will be laid on the selection, preparation and feeding of 
foods and to all essentials that relate to successful manage- 
ment. The hope is cherished, that in this way something 
will be done that may render some aid to those who may 
engage in the growing of live stock. 

THOMAS SHAW. 

St. Anthony Park, Minn. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER I 
Live Stock and Successful Farming 3 

CHAPTER n 
Principles that Govern the Selection of Animals 24 

CHAPTER III 
Principles that Govern Selecting Foods 43 

CHAPTER IV 
Principles that Govern Development 62 

CHAPTER V 
Principles that Govern Habit in Digestion and 

Assimilation 89 

CHAPTER VI 
Principles that Relate to Restfulness 96 

CHAPTER VII 
Principles that Relate to Prolonged Usefulness no 

CHAPTER VI] 
Principles that Relate to Pregnancy 121 

CHAPTER IX 
The Value of Type in Domestic Animals 133 

CHAPTER X 
Principles that Govern Feeding 163 

CHAPTER XI 
Food from Cured Fodders 191 



X TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER XII 
Food from Cereals and Other Seeds 225 

CHAPTER XIII 
Food from By-products 265 

CHAPTER XIV 
Food from Pastures 302 

CHAPTER XV 
Food from Field Roots and Tubers 323 

CHAPTER XVI 
Preparing Foods for Feeding , 350 

CHAPTER XVII 
Considerations that Relate to Meat Production 371 

CHAPTER XVIII 
Considerations that Relate to Milk Production 409 

CHAPTER XIX 
Considerations that Relate to General Feeding 443 

CHAPTER XX 
Considerations that Relate to the Care of Domestic 

Animals 476 

CHAPTER XXI 
Miscellaneous Considerations 509 




m 


c 


o 

On 


§ 


HH 




^ 


.« 


1— 1 


o 


o 


rt 


o 


0) 


< 


C 


u 


c 


K 


s 


u 




H 
<>1 


O 




o 






« 


3 


O 


n 


ffi 




H - 
Pi 


ffi 


O 


^ 


r/1 






b 


to 


Oj 


O 


■5 


O 


o 


« 




w 




W 


•^ 


^ 


o 


o 








PL, 




^ 




< 


3 


M 


o 


u 





PART I. 

Part I embraces Chapters I-IX. Chapter I which is 
introductory discusses Live Stock and Successful Farm- 
ing. Chapters II to IX discuss the laws or principles which 
govern the feeding of farm animals. 

The successful feeding of farm animals is governed 
by certain laws or principles, some of which are reason- 
ably well understood. It may be that there are other 
laws relating to this great subject that are not yet 
evolved, or are only in the process of evolution. The 
attempt to formulate those first referred to in regular 
sequence, and in the order of relative importance, will 
now be made. That this is no easy task in the present 
state of knowledge of the subject will be apparent from 
the statement that, so far as the author can ascertain, the 
attempt to enumerate these principles as such has never 
yet been made. The attempt, therefore, to formulate 
these laws in the manner stated may be so far impossible 
as not to preclude the necessity for some revision of the 
order of arrangement with the further rolling backward 
of the mists which, during long centuries, have shrouded 
this subject of subjects in practical agriculture. 

As now understood by the author, the following are 
the chief of the laws or principles that govern successful 
feeding, and they are given in the order of relative im- 
portance. They are such as relate: (i) To selection in the 
animals to be fed ; (2) to the selection of foods for feed- 
ing them; (3) to development in the animals; (4) to habit 
in digestion and assimilation; (5) to keeping the animals at 
rest; (6) to prolonging the period of usefulness; (7) to 
pregnancy. These inexorable laws will now be discussed. 
Like the laws of the Medes and Persians, they can never 
be changed, except by Him who made them^ hence, the great 



2 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

importance of understanding them on the part of those who 
engage in keeping domestic animals. 

In addition to these laws or principles is a long array 
of considerations that have each a more or less important 
bearing upon the successful feeding of animals. They 
have not the rank or force of laws or principles, and yet 
so nearly allied are some of them to the latter, that it is 
not easy to determine the border line between them. 
Each has a more or less important bearing on the suc- 
cessful feeding of animals. That none of them have quite 
the rank or force of laws is evidenced in the fact that 
neglecting them will not be followed by consequences so 
direful as those that would follow non-conforming to the 
requirements of laws or principles, and yet the feeder 
whose work is to be successful cannot afford to ignore 
any one of them in the prosecution of his work. These 
will be discussed in Chapters XVII. to XXI. 



CHAPTER I. 
LIVE STOCK AND SUCCESSFUL FARMING. 

In one respect the story of agriculture is the same in 
every country. History has shown that the relation be- 
tween highest success in farming and the growing and 
fattening of live stock is so close as to be inseparable. 
It has further shown that the measure of the success at- 
tained is proportionate to the extent to which live stock is 
kept and maintained, and to the high quality of the same. 
It follows, therefore, that every legitimate encouragement 
should be given to the live stock industry, and that every 
legitimate effort should be made to deepen the farmer's 
interest in live stock production. Make it clear to the 
farmer that maintaining live stock on his farm will in- 
crease his profits and promote in many ways his best in- 
terests, and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, he will 
invest in the same. If the demonstration cannot be made 
clear to him that these results may be expected to follow 
where the work is properly conducted, he should not be 
urged to engage in such work. To make it clear that such 
results may be expected is the purpose of this chapter. 

The following are prominent among the benefits that 
accompany the judicious keeping of live stock on the 
farm: (i) It increases profits; (2) aids greatly in the 
maintenance of fertility ; (3) benefits rotation ; (4) utili- 
zes cheap foods; (5) insures cheaper transportation of 
farm products; (6) distributes labor more evenly 
throughout the year; (7) promotes industry in the farm- 
er's household; (8) advances intelligence in the same; 
(9) tends to moor the young people in the farm home to 
farm life, and (10) is essential to the highest develop- 
ment in the nation. 



4 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Bearing on profits. — The relation between the grow- 
ing of live stock and live stock products in any country is so 
close and intimate that the statement is safe which 
claims that the profits from agriculture increase or de- 
crease with the increase or decrease of the live stock kept. 
The only exceptions, probably, are new areas with virgin 
soils, and limited areas with high natural adaptation to 
some special line of production in which fertility may be 
maintained for a time through the use of commercial 
fertilizers. An illustration is furnished in the growing of 
certain fruits and nut-bearing trees. The most prosper- 
ous rural communities in any state or country are those 
which devote the largest share of attention to live stock 
and live stock products ; as shown by the United States 
census of 1900, the profits per acre rose and fell with live 
stock values in the same. The relation between land 
values and the value of live stock kept upon the land, is 
close and intimate. In every state the highest land values 
are found almost invariably where live stock values are 
relatively the highest. Among the few exceptions are 
tide lands which may be enriched by sediment brought 
to them from the regulated overflow of tide waters. The 
richest agricultural countries in the world are those which 
are richest in live stock production. Results so uni- 
formly invariable cannot be the outcome of accident. 
They are effects which are produced by certain causes al- 
ways operative in live stock producing areas, under any 
system of mixed husbandry in which live stock is an im- 
portant feature. The chief of the causes that produce 
these results are discussed in succeeding paragraphs. 

Bearing upon fertility. — The extent to which the soils 
of the United States are being depleted of their fertility 
is probably the saddest feature in relation to their culti- 
vation. This results first from the extent to which the 
elements of fertility are removed in the products sold 
from the farm, chiefly in form of grain and bread stuffs. 
The larger portion of these products are sold in lands 



LIVE STOCK AND SUCCESSFUL FARMING 5 

where the fertility purchased in them is used in growing 
crops which compete with those sent to these countries 
from the United States. Thus, the United States be- 
comes its own competitor. This suicidal policy may be 
compared with drawing on the principal deposited in a 
bank from year to year, until all is gone, rather than liv- 
ing on the interest. 

As a result of this system, the evidences of a waning 
fertility are everywhere present in localities where the 
soil has been tilled during successive years. On the ma- 
jor portion of the lands in the New England, Atlantic and 
Middle States, good crops cannot now be grown without 
first dressing them with artificial fertilizers The rich 
lands of the middle West are giving indications of a grad- 
ually waning productiveness. Some of the mountain val- 
leys of the far West are less productive than when they 
were first tilled. Continue the process of selling the food 
products grown upon the farm and a time will come when 
profitable crops cannot any more be obtained from the 
same. 

Marked depletion in soil fertility is the greatest calam- 
ity, material in its nature, that can happen to any country. 
In some respects it is worse than famine, pestilence or 
war. When carried far enough it leads to abandoned 
farms. A region of abandoned farms is, in a sense, a 
wilderness, a desert. There are but three ways m which 
soil depletion may be prevented. These are, first, by 
maintaining equilibrium in fertility where crops are sold 
through applying commercial fertilizers; second, by 
stocking the land to its full capacity, and third, by com- 
bining the two systems. The occasional burying of green 
crops may also be introduced as an adjunct to each of 
these systems. 

There are two strong objections to maintaining 
equilibrium in fertility through commercial fertilizers 
alone. These are first, the cost, and second, that they do 
not materially improve the physical condition of the soil. 



O FEEDING FAR.M ANIMALS 

They do not add to the humus in the soil, except 
through increase Avhich they cause in root production in 
the crops grown. The presence of humus is necessary to 
insure the most efficient action possible from the ferti- 
lizers, hence, in the absence of long continued applications 
of farmyard manure or of buried crops, they do not stimu- 
late growth as they otherwise would. 

When the crops grown are sold and shipped away from 
the farm, all the fertility which they contain of course 
goes with them. When these are fed to live stock and the 
fertilizer resulting is put back upon the land, it is possi- 
ble in this way to restore to the land from, say 85 to 90 
per cent of the fertilizing elements that were taken from 
it. The keeping of the live stock also necessitates, more or 
less, the growing of legumes to be fed to them, a process 
which tends to increase the nitrogen content in the soil, 
since these crops deposit in the soil more nitrogen 
gathered from the air than is sold in the meat, milk or 
wool made from feeding them. 

In some instances, the fertility may be sufficiently main- 
tained through keeping live stock only, at 'east for a long 
term of years. In other instances it may be maintained 
through the application of commercial fertilizers only. 
The former finds illustration in the rich lands of the 
prairie states, the latter, in the grass producing lands of 
the alluvial river bottom lands of the eastern states. On 
ordinary soils, however, fertility may be most evenly 
maintained by the moderate and judicious application of 
commercial fertilizers in conjunction with the judicious 
maintenance of live stock . 

The equilibrium of fertility can thus be maintained and 
increased. The limit to such increase is the capacity and de- 
sire of those who cultivate the soil. With increase in fertility, 
the cost of growing crops will decrease, and there will be a 
proportionate increase in profits. To maintain such equilib- 
rium in fertility is probably the most important question per- 
taining to the agriculture of this country. 



LIVE STOCK AND SUCCESSFUL FARMING 7 

Bearing upon rotation. — By rotation is meant the 
growing of diflferent classes of crops in succession. Crops 
differ more or less in their food requirements, that is, in the 
extent to which they draw on certain food elements in 
the soil. Some call for more nitrogen than others, and so 
of the different food elements, hence, when one crop is 
grown successively on the same land, the equilibrium or 
balance in fertility is disturbed, to the extent of reducing 
some of the elements of plant food in the soil so much 
that good crops of that class cannot longer be grown upon 
the land without it is in some way renewed. Other evils 
accompany such a process, as for instance, increase in 
certain forms of weed growth, increase in insects which 
prey upon the particular crop grown, and injury to the 
mechanical condition of the land through depleting it of 
humus. 

These evils may be lessened, and in a great measure 
prevented, by practicing a judicious rotation. Some forms 
of rotation will not, in a marked degree, prevent or very 
much lessen the evils mentioned. Such is a rotation 
which consists in the growing of such crops only as the 
small cereals, wheat, oats, barley, rye, speltz and flax. 
This is owing to the general similarity of the food ele- 
ments on which they feed, and to the fact that they all 
reduce the humus supply in the soil. 

Rotation, in the true and helpful sense, implies that live 
stock shall be kept. Where kept, they consume the un- 
salable roughage grown, along with other food, and thus 
give back to the land each of the elements of fertility 
taken from it. They do this in proportion to the extent to 
which the food is fed which has been grown upon the 
farm, and to the care and promptness exercised in putting 
back again upon the land, the fertilizer resulting. 

The fertilizer thus applied tends to maintain an equilib- 
rium in the humus supply in the land. It does this 
through the admixing of the manure with the soil when 
cultivating it. The humus thus supplied improves the 



8 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

soil mechanically by making it more friable or firm, ac- 
cording to its texture. It also increases the power of the 
soil to hold moisture and the nominal elements thus ap- 
plied improve the chemical condition of the soil while in 
process of decay. Should the question be asked, why 
may these results not be accomplished as well by grow- 
ing hay to be marketed or by burying an occasional green 
crop, the answer is found in the soil depletion to which 
the first leads, and in the expense involved in the use of 
the land while the green crop is being grown. 

Again, the keeping of live stock compels the mainte- 
nance of pastures on the farm. In this fact is found one of 
the most beneficial influences. Pasturing land does not al- 
ways completely hinder soil depletion, but it greatly re- 
duces it, since the product removed consists mainly of 
soil fertility used in making meat, milk or wool, as the 
case may be. The same is true of hay crops grown and 
fed on the farm. 

Both pasture and hay crops lessen the labor and ex- 
pense of cultivation in proportion as they are grown, but 
the saving in both respects is greater by far in pasture 
crops. The economy of maintaining pastures, and of 
properly maintaining them, has never been fully appre- 
ciated in American agriculture. The expense involved 
in maintaining fences to some extent lessens the economy 
in maintaining pastures, but in ordinary mixed farming 
their maintenance is an absolute necessity in order to 
properly rotate the crops. 

The influence of pastures temporary in character in 
supplying the land with humus is very great. They fur- 
nish soil with sod or vegetable matter, which in its slow 
decay benefits the soil as described above. As a result, 
the crops which follow the breaking up of the pastures 
will probably be benefited for several years. Results 
similar in kind, but frequently less in degree, follow the 
breaking up of meadows. These usuallv have a less dense 
sod than pastures 



LIVE STOCK AND SUCCESSFUL FARMING 9 

Bearing on cheap foods. — On every farm more or less 
food is grown that is of but little value when sold in the 
open market. In some instances, it is quite unsalable, 
and yet, if fed to animals, its value would be considerable. 
It would seem correct to say that on many farms the 
revenue derived from thus utilizing what would otherwise 
be waste material, makes up the principal, if not the en- 
tire, of the net revenue derived from the farm. 

On farms devoted mainly or exclusively to producing 
grain which is sold, the straw, the gleanings amid the 
stubbles, and the screenings of the grain are entirely lost 
to the farm where no live stock are kspt. The straw, 
much of which has a considerable feeding value, is 
burned. The weeds and the grass which grow amid the 
stubbles and which sheep could turn into good mutton, 
are not only practically valueless, but become a positive 
menace to clean farming. The numerous grain heads 
which fall to the ground whib the grain is being har- 
vested, and which swine could turn into good pork, 
molder in decay. The screenings, consisting of small and 
shriveled kernels and weed seeds, become the property, and 
without any exchange, of those who buy the grain. 

Where mixed farming is practiced, large quantities of 
fodder and low grade grain are grown, which can only be 
turned to good account by feeding it out to live stock. 
Such is straw of various kinds, hay that is coarse, weedy 
or much damaged by rain, corn stover, and grain that is 
so light or injured in harvesting that it grades low. Some 
of these products will, under some conditions, not pay the 
labor of marketing, others will be in a manner sacrificed 
because of the low price paid, and for some there is vir- 
tually no market, other than that which the farm fur- 
nishes. To the first class belong such products as oat 
and pea straw, which, when cut at the right season and 
well cured, have a higher feeding value than poor hay, 
To the second belong such foods as inferior or dam- 
aged hay and some kinds of coarse grains. Such hay may 



lO FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

have a considerable feeding value, and baney so stained 
by exposure as to be greatly discounted in price in the 
market will make as much and as valuable meat, milk or 
wool, and will sustain as much labor as barley that sells 
for the highest price. To the third class belongs corn 
stover, every acre of which is about equal to the produce 
of an acre of hay for feeding uses, and yet millions of 
acres of this valuable food go back to earth ungathered 
every year, because the production is in excess of the 
needs of the live stock kept. 

There are also by-products from the dairy, the orchard 
and the garden, which usually can only be given a money 
value by feeding them on the farm. Such are skim milk, 
fallen fruit, unmarketable potatoes and the unsalable 
parts of vegetables. Nearly all kinds of field root crops 
also, to be profitable, must be fed upon the farm. The 
utilization of all these products in the way indicated, may 
alone constitute the difference between successful and un- 
successful farming. 

Bearing on transportation. — The consumption of the 
food grown upon the farm through the medium of live 
stock invariably cheapens the cost of marketing the prod- 
uct, whether marketed nearby or through the medium 
of railroad transportation. A ton of hay, for instance, 
is marketed more cheaply, viewed from the standpoint 
of transportation, in the form of meat, milk, butter, cheese 
or wool than it can be through the medium of wagon or 
railroad transportation. As previously shown, many prod- 
ucts grown upon the farm cannot be sold profitably or 
sold at all in the open market. (See p. 4.) 

The cost of transportation frequently makes the ship- 
ment of bulky foods prohibitory. This is particularly 
true of foods other than concentrates, and is more es- 
pecially true of transportation where more than one road 
carries the product to its destination, each road making 
its own rate. Because of the increased charges in the ab- 
sence of a through rate and also for other reasons, it is, in 



LIV1-: SIOCK AND SUCCESSFUL FARMING II 

some instances, easily possible for the European farmer 
to buy American grown products and to feed them to live 
stock at a profit, while the American farmer who is dis- 
tant from the place of production is unable to do so. The 
New England dairyman or feeder could turn to excellent 
account the cheap hay grown in the upper Mississippi 
basin, but the cost of transportation makes prohibitory 
the feeding of such food upon his farn. Notwithstand- 
ing, the New England factory employe is able to stand 
the cost of transporting the same hay virtually to the 
same market in the form of butter or cheese. 

It is impossible to state with decision the saving in 
transportation by turning bulky foods, and even concen- 
trates, into the still more concentrated forms of meat, 
milk and other products of the dairy. This wdl be in- 
fluenced first by the relative reduction in weight ef- 
fected, the relative advance in value of the finished prod- 
uct in a given market compared with the value of the 
materials used in making it, and relative freight charges 
on these products. The influence last p-entioned will not 
be discussed here since it is, to so great an extent, a vary- 
ing factor. 

The saving in weight effected by feeding foods in the 
form of animal products is proportionate to the bulkiness 
or the opposite of the foods fed ; to the relative nutrition 
in these in proportion to weight ; to the relative propor- 
tion of bulky foods and concentrates that are fed, and to 
the degree of the concentration in the animal product 
made from these foods. It is apparent, of course, that the 
greater the bulk, the less the nutrition ; the larger the pro- 
portion of bulky foods fed and the less concentrated the 
forms into which the foods are changed, the less rela- 
tively will be the saving efi"ected in transportation. While 
the amount of the saving eflfected on the basis of reduced 
weight from transforming food for animals into animal 
products cannot be given with precision, it may be stated 
approximately. To make 2 pounds of meat per day from 



12 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

a good i,ooo pound steer that is being fattened would 
call for say 30 pounds of good clover hay and grain, of 
which, say 12 pounds would be grain. Tl>e reduction in 
the weight to be transported as meat, compared with the 
food used in making it, would be 28 pounds or 93 per cent. 
To secure 22 pounds of milk per day from a dairy cow of 
similar weight during a prolonged period of feeding 
would call for say 36 pounds of the same kinds of fooil, 
of which say 8 pounds would be grain. The reduction 
in this instance is 14 pounds or 39 per cent. Suppose 
that the milk is made into cheese and that 10 pounds are 
allowed for i pound of cheese. The reduction in freight 
would be 33.8 pounds or 94 per cent. Suppose again the 
milk is made into butter, and that the 22 pounds of milk 
make i pound of butter, then the reduction in freight is 
35 pounds or 97 per cent. It is thus apparent that the re- 
duction in freight from turning food Into these respec- 
tive products increases in the following order : Milk, 
beef, cheese and butter. It is further apparent that while 
butter, beef and cheese may be readily transported to 
long distances, the transporting of milk must always be 
circumscribed by distance, because of its relative weight 
in proportion to the food products from which it is made. 
That the degree of the advance in value of the finished 
product, as compared with the value of the foods used in 
making it has an important bearing on transportation, 
may be readily shown. Suppose, for instance, that a 
given amount of food is turned into butter. It has been 
shown that the weight to be transported is reduced by 
97 per cent. But suppose that in the one instance, the 
butter sold at the point of destination for 20 cents per 
pound and in the other instance for 25 cents. The butter 
which brought the larger return was carried at the same 
rate as that which was sold at the lower price, which 
means, virtually, less cost in relation to the return for the 
weight transported. 



LIVE STOCK AND SUCCESSFUL FARMING 1 3 

It has also been shown that but for such transforma- 
tion through feeding certain products, they could not be 
sold at all. (See p. 4.) The home market thus 
created, as it were, for foods otherwise unsalable, is one of 
the greatest benefits from stock keeping. It not only ob- 
viates waste which would otherwise be unavoidable, but 
it greatly increases profits. It also encourages the growth 
of many products that would not otherwise be grown, 
thus widening diversity in crop production. 

Bearing on labor. — Stocking farms partially, or to the 
full extent of their capacity, has an important bearing on 
the question of farm labor. Thi"; bearing is proportionate 
to the extent to which the farm is stocked. It tends to 
the distribution of labor throughout the year, exercises an 
important influence on the relations between the farmer 
and the farmhand, and furnishes profitable work for every 
member of the family, according to the capacity of each. 

The growing of live stock distributes labor throughout 
the whole year: (i) Through the diversity in crop pro- 
duction, which it necessitates; (2) through the ever 
present necessity of providing food for the animals kept ; 
and (3) through the labor entailed at certain seasons and 
with certain foods in preparing these for being fed. 

Those farmers who grow but one kind of crop from 
year to year are only busy when growing that crop and 
marketing the same. Those who add to the number of 
crops grown and marketed directly, extend the period for 
labor in proportion to the increase in the number of the 
crops grown. Nevertheless, in the latter instance, there 
will be a period of idleness as well as in the former, 
though not so prolonged. But the keeping of live stock 
on arable farms compels the farmer to widen his rotation 
in order to provide the reqviisite foods for the same, and 
usually to the extent of making ample employment 
throughout the entire season of growth. 

Animals, like the human family, must have sustenance, 
and they must have it during every day in the year. 



14 "DEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Where they are to give the highest possible return, they 
must have food supplied them at certain intervals. The 
owner must in some way supply this food, and should do 
it as cheerfully and as faithfully as the uncomplaining 
mother prepares food from day to day for the household. 
Work horses need currying from day to day, cows must 
be milked at least twice a day and stables must be cleaned 
daily, thus entailing the blessed necessity of laboring more 
or less every day in the year. 

The proper preparing of foods for winter feeding us- 
ually involves much labor. It may and does usually in- 
clude such processes as grinding grain, shredding or chaf- 
fing fodders, slicing or pulping roots, soaking, steaming or 
boiling foods for certain classes of live stock, and blend- 
ing foods so as to increase their efficiency when fed. The 
labor thus created gives employment, and where wisely 
directed, should prove remunerative. 

Growing farm stock exercises a salutary influence, on 
the frequently vexatious question of farm labor : ( i ) By 
creating employment for farmhands through all the year; 
(2) by adding to the permanency of such labor, and (3) 
by the bearing which it has upon the price of labor. 

When farm hands are only employed for a portion of 
the year, but one of two results must follow : they must 
remain idle through a part of th^ year, or secure employ- 
ment in some other line of work, and at a season when 
employment is hard to get, that is, in the winter. Live 
stock call for more attention in winter than in summer, 
and thus necessitate the employment of labor at that 
season. 

Permanency of employment must be given to the farm 
laborer who is to remain in this line of work, and who is 
to excel in the same. It is unreasonable to expect any 
one to continue in any line of work which furnishes em- 
ployment for only a portion of the year. The best farm 
laborers, thus treated, must drift into other lines of work. 
Those only will remain whose unstable habits unfit them 
for permanency in any line of work. 



LIVE STOCK AND SUCCESSFUL FARMING I5 

Employment throughout the year will act as a regu- 
lator of farm wages, as men who work on a farm 12 
months in the year can work for lower wages per month 
than those who work but eight months. Men who are 
given but eight months wages, which represents main- 
tenance for one year, must get more per month than men 
who can maintain themselves by laboring all the year. 

The maintenance of live stock furnishes profitable em- 
ployment to all the members of the farmer's family, by 
giving work to each, according to the capacity and sex. 
The benefits resulting are: (i) Increased efficiency in la- 
boring with the hands ; (2) the formation of industrious 
habits, and (3) increase in profits. 

At a very early age members of the family may feed 
fowls, when a little more advanced, they can care for 
sheep and other small animals. Later, both boys and 
girls can aid in the milking, and still later, the boys take 
part in the more laborious work of preparing foods. 

Each is exercised in using the hands in manual labor at 
an age when such labor is not only helpful to physical 
development, but when it is greatly helpful to future use- 
fulness. The individual not trained to use the hands un- 
til matured can never become so expert in the use of the 
same as if such training had been given at an earlier 
period. The most skillful axemen of America are those 
who were exercised in swinging the axe from the time 
that they were first able to swing it. 

The value of habits of industry will be discussed under 
the sub-division of the subject following. But it may be 
said in passing, that it is the habits of industry that are 
formed in early life in the members of the farmer's family 
that, more than anything else, aids in making them the 
foremost builders of the nation. 

The members of the family in this way become wage- 
earners at a relatively early period, which adds to the 
profits of the farm by increasing the resources without 



l6 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

increasing the wage bill. While thus engaged, the mem- 
bers of the home have the great advantage of parental 
oversight, and they enjoy all the privileges which home 
furnishes. In the absence of live stock on farms, family 
labor can only be remunerative through the growing sea- 
son. With live stock it becomes remunerative through 
all the year. 

Bearing on industry. — Stocking farms to their full 
capacity tends in a marked degree to the promotion of 
industry in rural communities and to the formation of 
industrious habits of young people who are reared on 
such farms. These results are brought about: (i) By the 
increase in labor thus necessitated ; (2) through the dis- 
tribution of the same over the entire year. The habits of 
industry thus maintained in the parents and begotten and 
developed in the children, are of inestimable value to 
rural communities, to industrial centers, and to the entire 
nation. 

The increase in labor thus necessitated has been dealt 
with in part in the sub-division preceding. It has been 
shown that such increase in labor is necessitated through 
the necessity for a wider rotation, through the preparing 
of foods for feeding and through feeding and caring for 
the animals. To this may be added the statement that 
such labor increases the farmer's profits, as a rule, and for 
this reason if for no other, it is to be commended. 

It increases his profits in various ways, (see p. 2) but 
more probably than in any other way through the added 
value given to farm products by converting them into 
more valuable forms. In this way every farm home thus 
managed becomes a factory in which foods in the raw 
form, so to speak, are manufactured into what may be 
termed finished form. The parents are the managers of 
this factory and all the members of the family are co- 
operative partners in it. Turning coarse fodders, field 
roots and screenings which may have practically no value 
on the farm into butter worth 20 to 25 cents per pound 



LIVE STOCK AND SUCCESSFUL FARMING IJ 

furnishes an illustration of such profitable transformation 
of food products. 

The significance of distributing labor on the farm 
throughout the year, lies not so much in the greater prof- 
its, which in the end it usually leads to, as in the salutary 
moral influence which it exerts on the farmer and his 
household. Those who grow and sell grain only are 
overcrowded with work during seedtime and harvest, 
while at other seasons they are unduly idle. The influence 
on the parents is not good. It gives the husband too 
much time to discuss the policies of the nation in the gro- 
cery and gives his wife so much time to visit her sisters, 
as to militate against good housekeeping. But the chil- 
dren become the chief sufferers. They have a period of 
practically enforced idleness during much of the year, 
notwithstanding that they attend some school. This is 
most unfortunate for the reason, first, that they do not 
become inured to physical labor during the formative 
period, and second, that such enforced idleness makes 
labor distasteful through the inertia which it leads to. In 
this way encouragement is given to drifting from the 
farm. 

The importance of thus developing habits of industry 
in the young people who grow up in farm homes cannot 
be easily overestimated. Such habits usually make the 
difference between success and the want of success in 
farming. It is the possession of these more than anything 
else that makes men reared on the farm leaders in indus- 
trial centers when they center their thought on industrial 
lines of work. They also tend to higher and more stable 
citizenship wherever they are possessed. 

Bearing on intelligence. — The general influence which 
the growing and feeding of farm animals exercises on the 
general intelligence of those thus engaged is unquestion- 
ably beneficent. This is evidenced (i) in the nature of 
the work, (2) in the necessities to which it gives rise, and 
(3) in the equipment called for if it is to be successfully 



1 8 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

prosecuted. It is not the thought here to draw invidious 
distinctions between farmers engaged in different Unes of 
work, but rather to show the greater complexity of the 
problems of growing live stock as compared with those 
in some other lines of farming, and consequently the 
greater skill that must be intelligently exercised where 
the work is to be a marked success. 

The most simple style of agriculture that can be prac- 
ticed is that pursued in pastoral districts where those who 
practice it lead the life of nomads. The skill called for 
in such farming relates chiefly to the selection of pastures 
adapted to the needs of the flock. Tilling virgin lands 
on the one crop system is a little more complex, as it in- 
volves the use of implements of tillage. Rotating crops 
calls for more thought and skill, since the habits of growth 
in these differ, and consequently the requisites to produce 
growth differ correspondingly. When fertility wanes, 
those who grow crops must use some kind of fertilizers. 
The proper use of these compels thought and so leads, of 
necessity, to higher intelligence. When live stock are in- 
troduced, additional factors of complication come with 
them, owing to the necessities of the animals them- 
selves. 

The necessities of the animals in the lines of food and 
shelter on arable farms compel diversity of a certain 
kind to provide suitable food, the erection of buildings to 
provide suitable shelter, preparing the foods when nec- 
essary to make them more suitable and feeding them in 
balance to make them more effective. The stock grower 
who does not understand how to do all this with a fair 
measure of efficiency is not properly equipped for his bus- 
iness. 

Efficient equipment on the part of the stock raiser in- 
volves a reasonable knowledge, at least, of the principles 
that relate to the selection of animals for rearing, breed- 
ing or feeding,- of those that govern development in its 



LIVE STOCK AND SUCCESSFUL FARMING I9 

various phases and stages, of those that relate to the se- 
lection of foods, of those that govern digestion and also 
of those that tend to promote the comfort and well being 
of the animals. It also calls for a reasonable under- 
standing of the knowledge of relative values of animals 
of different types and at different stages of development, 
of the relative value of foods and finished meat and milk 
products that may be made from them, and the various 
details of management that lead to higher achievement 
in breeding, feeding and producing a finished product of 
high relative value. 

From the foregoing it will be plainly evident that the 
individual who attains to high success in stock keeping 
must be a close observer, a correct thinker, a careful bus- 
iness man, an untiring student of valuable live stock 
literature and unsparing in his attentions to the needs 
of the animals which he keeps. In other words, he must 
be possessed of intelligence and industry in no small de- 
gree. 

Bearing upon development. — The growing of live 
stock not only tends to advance intelligence as outlined in the 
preceding sub-sections, but it would also appear to have 
inherently a favorable influence on both physical and 
intellectual development. This may be shown : ( i ) In| 
the fact that the foremost nations, both ancient and) 
modern were consumers of animal products in addition 
to vegetable products, including fruits; (2) that people 
who have lived entirely or mainly on flesh' alone or on 
vegetables alone, have never stood in the front rank 
among the peoples of the earth, and (3) that these re- 
sults are the typical outcome of supreme wisdom and 
design in the arrangement which results in the 
growth of products from the soil that may be consumed 
directly by man ; of other products that can only be pre- 
pared for human consumption by the animals that feed 
upon them, and in the bestowment of animals capable of 
thus transforming their foods. 



20 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

That the foremost nations of the earth intellectually 
and physically were consumers of both animal and veg- 
etable products is shown in a marked degree in ancient 
times by the history of the Jews, the Greeks and the 
Romans. These nations produced the finest specimens of 
the human race in the olden times, viewed from both 
standpoints when taken together. In the more recent 
centuries the Anglo-Saxon peoples have forged away to 
the front as evidenced in the relative position held by 
Great Britain and her colonies and more recently by the 
United States, at one time a British Colony. These races 
are the greatest relative consumers of animal products 
in the world. In the consumption of these products per 
capita, the United States stands first among all the na- 
tions of the earth, and where, it may be asked, among all 
these nations, can the superior of the average American 
be found in physical and intellectual development. 

The low development intellectually of the peoples who 
live entirely or mainly on the flesh of animals is shown 
in the history of the barbarous races of both ancient and 
modern days. Such races have never wielded an impor- 
tant influence in shaping the destinies of the human fam- 
ily. They vanish in the presence of the more aggressive 
races whose food blends in reasonable equilibrium, grains, 
vegetables, fruits and animal products, as illustrated in 
the present condition of the Indian tribes of North Amer- 
ica. The showing is some better with peoples who live 
mainly on vegetable products, as in the case of some of 
the nations of southeastern Asia, but none of these now 
occupy or have ever occupied that high position relatively 
which has been accorded to the nations above referred 
to, whose people have fed on animal and vegetable 
products. 

Had no provision been made by the Creator for sus- 
taining man except through the growth of products from 
the soil to be consumed directly, then a very large pro- 
portion of nature's energy in production would be ex- 



LIVE STOCK AND SUCCESSFUL FARMING 21 

pended in vain, since many of earth's products would be 
consumed to no purpose so far as man is concerned. This 
would be true of the major portion of the products on 
which domestic animals feed. It would deprive the hu- 
man family of milk, the most valuable single food prod- 
uct ever given to the world. It would mean that nearly 
all the coarser grains now grown would not be grown, 
from the absence of a sufficient incentive to grow them, 
and that the by-products of all grains grown, as bran and 
gluten meal, would be a waste, from the want of animals 
to consume them. On the other hand, should animals only 
be grown in any considerable numbers, then their only 
use would be to furnish hides. The carcasses, so valuable 
now, would then be naught but waste. Nor does it re- 
move the difficulty to say that domestic animals capable 
of milk production were given for that purpose only, 
as this still leaves unexplained the great problem as to 
why half the entire number of the milk giving classes of ani- 
mals are males, and therefore, incapable of milk giving. The 
evident mission, therefore, of all domestic animals is to util- 
ize the products of the soil for man's advantage and they 
accomplish this by turning their products into other food 
forms, into materials for clothing and into energy to fur- 
nish labor. 

It does not follow that some examples of unusual 
strength of body and mind may not be found among men 
who subsist wholly on flesh or wholly on vegetables. 
In communities which subsist mainly on a mixed diet of 
animal and vegetable products, much of this may be due 
to inheritance. But it does follow, that rulers of the 
world are just about certain to be consumers of such prod- 
ucts and that, therefore, animals must be grown in ever 
increasing numbers as the population increases in such 
countries, in order to provide them with foods so inti- 
mately related to national supremacy. 

Bearing on farm life. — The growing of live stock has 
an exceedingly important bearing on the interest taken 



22 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

in farm life, and the pleasure derived from it, and it cer- 
tainly tends more than any other phase of agriculture 
to moor the young people of the farm to farm life. It 
adds to the pleasure of life on a farm: (i) By the closer 
bond that exists between the human family and animal 
life than is possible between men and plants, (2) by in- 
creasing the profits derived from the farm, and (3) by 
making it possible to multiply farms as the necessity for 
so doing increases. 

The bond between humanity and plant life can never 
be so close as that between humanity and animal life. 
In the very nature of things it cannot be, since in plants 
there is no response to attentions from the human fam- 
ily other than the dumb response of growth. In addition, 
from animals there is the response of submission and 
more or less of friendly feeling, which is closely allied to 
gratitude. In fact, it would almost seem as though domes- 
tic animals were more uniformly grateful for attentions 
bestov/ed than man. "The ox knoweth his owner and the 
ass his master's crib, but my people do not know." 

This reciprocity as it were between human and animal 
life is inherent in many ways, and it begets between 
young people and their pets what cannot otherwise be ex- 
pressed so well as by the use of the term aflfection. This 
is evidenced in the disconsolate grief sometimes shown 
by a little maiden of the farm over the loss of a pet Iamb 
torn by dogs. It is also evidenced in the innate bond 
that exists between young boys and their pet dogs. This 
bond would seem to be stronger in some instances than 
the bond between David and Jonathan. The thrill of 
feeling that comes to the farm girl in witnessing the 
rapid trooping of fowls into her presence in response 
to her call is such as never can come from feeding plants. 
The thoughts of the pets of the farm in those early days 
are thoughts that linger, and who can measure the influ- 
ence which thev have wielded in the decision reached 



L1\E STOCK AAD SUCCESSFUL 1 AR.MIXU 2^ 

to Stay on the farm, when inclination and outside influ- 
ences pulled in an opposite direction. The bond between a 
grown person on the farm and the members of his herd or 
flock is also strong in a large proportion of instances. This 
is evidenced in the regret which the farm matron 
feels when she sees a favorite cow of the herd driven 
away to the shambles, and in the disturbing thought 
that comes to the' farmer when a herd or flock which he 
has been feeding for months is driven away for slaughter. 
Such thoughts never come into the mind when grains 
are sold or any other class of vegetable products, and 
they evidence the fact that the relations between the far- 
mer and his dumb dependents were to him a source of 
pleasure while they lasted. 

The increase in the profits of the farm through the 
keeping of live stock has already been discussed. ( See 
p. 2.) When such increased profits are wisely and 
promptly shared with the members of the family who 
help to earn them, the bond becomes still stronger, which 
binds them to the farm. 

The keeping of live stock on arable farms is of that 
character known as intensive. It creates labor (see p. ii). 
Because it does, it makes possible more of sub-division 
in farms than would be possible under other conditions 
of farming. This results in increase and greater prox- 
imity of farm homes, with all the benefits which flow 
from the same to the schools and churches in rural parts, 
to social life, to the municipality, to the adjacent villages 
and towns and to the nation at large. 

The great relative importance of live stock has been 
dwelt upon at length because of its importance. The part 
that it is playing and the far greater part that it is going 
to play in building; high the pillar of the nation's prosper- 
ity, are but dimly understood by farmers even in the 
aggregate. Hence, the justification for trying to impress 
this thought upon the student of agriculture, when cross- 
ing the threshold of a treatise on Feeding Farm Animals. 



CHAPTER II. 

PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN THE SELECTION 
OF ANIMALS. 

Selecting animals, in relative importance, towers away 
upward, head and shoulders above the other principles 
that govern feeding. Though each of these should be 
scrupulously observed, if the principle governing selec 
tion is violated, marked success will be unattainable. In 
proportion to the measure of such violation, will be the 
want of success. So broad is it that it involves nearly 
every consideration relating to breeding, and many con 
siderations relating to previous management, and yet, in 
discussing it, the aim will be to narrow the discussion 
down to all possible brevity of statement not inconsistent 
with clearness in the same. 

Prominent among the principles that govern selection 
are : ( i ) Those that relate to adaptation in the sense of re- 
quirement or use ; (2) to inheritance ; (3) to type or form 
(4) to quality; (5) to transmission; (6) to adaptation in 
its relation to environment; and (7) to the indications of 
good health. The aim has been to state those principles 
in the order of relative importance, except the last, which 
manifestly may exercise a qualifying influence on all the 
others, but coming light on these questions may show the 
necessity for rearrangement. 

Adaptation to requirement. — Adaptation in the sense 
requirement or use has reference to the object or objeci"s 
for which animals are kept. In the nature of things these 
objects vary greatly in the dififerent classes of domestic 
animals, and they frequently dififer considerably in ani- 
mals of the same class, but of different breeding. Some 
horses, for instance, are wanted for labor only, some foi 
driving only, and some for both uses. Some cattle are 

24 



THE SELECTION OF ANIMALS 25 

grown to provide milk only, some to provide meat only, 
and some to provide milk and meat. Some breeds of 
sheep are kept primarily for mutton production, others 
primarily for wool production, and yet others for both 
uses. Likewise some breeds of swine are maintained 
mainly for the purpose of producing carcasses with rela- 
tively heavy hams and shoulders, and a large amount of 
fat, while others are maintained primarily to produce a 
large percentage of high priced side meat, with lighter 
hams and shoulders, and a large proportion of lean dis- 
tributed through the carcass. The former are now gen- 
erally spoken of as lard hogs and the latter as bacon. 
Others again have carcasses a sort of mean between the 
two. The intermediate form in swine may not be quite so 
pronounced as in other classes of farm animals, but it ex- 
ists, nevertheless. It should also be observed that the 
intermediate or dual types are, in the meantime, more 
numerously kept than the other types. 

It is manifest, therefore, that should animals primarily 
adapted to one specific use be chosen and maintained 
for the other line or lines of production for which other 
animals of the same class have high adaptation, the end 
sought would not be well attained, and so far as attained 
it would be at an undue sacrifice of food and labor. The 
same will prove true when animals adapted to two lines 
of production are chosen in lieu of animals of the same 
class primarily adapted to one line of production, where 
that one line only is wanted. For instance, to seek the 
highest quality of profitable meat from a high type dairy 
cow, or the most abundant milk produ tion from a high 
type beef cow, would be a forlorn hope. Likewise to ex- 
pect either of these to furnish meat and milk in well bal- 
anced equilibrium, as it is furnished by the dual types of 
cows, or to expect the latter to equal the single purpose 
cows in their own specific line of production would be an 
unwarranted expectation. It is exceedinj^ly important, 



26 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

therefore, that animals shall be carefully chosen with 
reference to the specific uses for which they are kept. 

By what standards shall the selections be made? First, 
by those that relate to inheritance; second, to form or 
type; third, to quality; fourth, to environment; fifth, to 
health, and in some instances, but not in all, to transmis- 
sion. These standards are discussed below, each in its 
place, hence, further discussion at this time is not neces- 
sary. 

Inheritance. — Iniieritance in the selection of animals 
for feeding, and more especially for breeding, is important, 
because of the bearing it has on prospective results. 
W^ith rare exceptions these results are assured in propor- 
tion (i) to the duration of the purity of th*^ breeding; (2) 
to the degree of excellence in the near ancestry; and (3) 
to the correct individuality of the animals in respect to 
form and also in respect to function, proved or prospec- 
tive. The first is ascertained through pedigree, the sec- 
ond, through facts bearing on the history, including the 
performance of the animals in the near generations, and 
the eye or hand or both acting in conjunction. 

The importance of inheritance as a factor in selection 
is not always equal. It is probably never equal except 
when the particular individuals are chosen for the same 
specific purpose, as when two cows, for instance, are 
chosen for the same line of production in the dairy. It 
varies (i) with the object for which the animals are 
chosen ; (2) with tlxe duration of the period for which 
they are to be kept, and (3) with the relative value of the 
products which they produce. 

It is very evident that selection based on inheritance, 
though usually important in selecting animals for feed- 
ing, is less important than when selecting them for breed- 
ing. In the former instance, individual performance until 
they reach the block is the only question at stake, in the 
latter, succeeding generations are involved. 



THE SELECTION OF ANIMALS 2/ 

Lambs or swine purchased for feeding are seldom re- 
tained on the farm for a longer period than four months, 
and steers for a simijar use are seldom retained for a 
longer period than six months, but when young ewes, 
young sows or young cows are purchased for breeding, 
the greatly increased relative importance of care in se- 
lecting for the latter use is at once apparent, because of 
the years of prospective usefulness ahead of them. Young 
horses retain utility for a longer period and, therefore, 
still more care should be exercised in choosing these. 

The difference in the relative value of the product re- 
sulting from different classes of animals is readily appar- 
ent if the production of the steer is compared with the 
labor of the horse on the farm or on the road, the latter 
being vastly greater viewed from the standpoint of in- 
trinsic value and of duration ; and the difference in the 
value of animals of the same class is readily shown by 
comparing the meat value of the young cow, slaughtered 
at three years old, with that of her full sister, retained in 
the dairy for years and capable of producing on an aver- 
age 6,000 pounds of good milk in a year. Care in selecting 
the latter is vastly more important than care in selecting 
the former, and the same is true of the greater care and 
skill necessary in choosing a horse for speeding than 
when choosing one for ordinary driving. 

Type or form. — The terms type and form are not quite 
synonymous, but the distinctions between them are not 
very wide. The latter relates more to individuality in 
the animals and the former to breeds, sub-breeds or fam- 
ilies within sub-breeds. The first has leference to that 
form which is ideal for all the individuals of the breed, 
sub-breed or family. In this respect it is inexorable. 
The standard type is the correct type, whatever the per- 
formance of the individual may be. But the standard 
form is, or ought to be, that form which will bring the 
highest results in performance. 



28 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

In this respect, type and form are not always in abso- 
lute agreement, though they ought to be. The standard 
type is that set up by the association guarding the in- 
terests of the breed, while the standard form is, or ought 
to be, that form in which individuality usually results 
in highest performance. There is the further distinction 
that type is fixed by the breeders' associations, while form 
is fixed by concurrent opinion based on practical results. 
For instance, type in all the breeds of cattle differs to the 
extent of the difference in breed peculiarities, while in 
form there is general agreement as to the exact individual 
shapes that are most likely to result in highest perform- 
ance. The term type, therefore, is more correctly ap- 
plied to breeds as such, while the term form is more prop- 
erly applied to correct furnishings regardless of type 
peculiarities. To illustrate, type in Shorthorns points 
the horn up or down, form considers only its shape, re- 
gardless of the pointings. Type includes color markings ; 
form does not. The first more properly belongs to breeds ; 
the second, to individuals. 

Both type and form have a very direct bearing on per- 
formance. In this respect they have the strength of law 
indisputable and decisive. For instance, the correct 
form of a draught horse is very different from the correct 
form for the standard bred horse, and the correct form 
for an ideal beef producing animal is very different from 
the correct form for an ideal milk producer. The per- 
formance of the draught horse on the track and of the 
beef type of cow in the dairy can never compare with the 
performance of the standard bred horse in the one in- 
stance, or of the dairy bred cow in the other. In this re- 
spect a great gulf between them is fixed. 

But it is true, nevertheless, that two animals may have 
exactly the same form and they may be of exactly similar 
inheritance, and yet the performance from them may 
vary considerably, hence, type or form is only a general 
guide when selecting animals for feeding or rearing. This 



THE SELECTION OF ANIMALS 2) 

is owing to such influences as those exercised by the 
condition of the male at the time of generation, or of the 
female during gestation, to the character of the food fed 
before and after tlie birth period, and to habit as the out- 
come of use or training. But it is the best guide 
considered alone, when selecting animals for feed- 
ing or performance, especially in the absence of a 
knowledge of facts bearing on inheritance. 

The relative importance of inheritance and type or form 
in selecting animals is a disputed question. In this re- 
spect the object sought will have an influence. In select- 
ing animals for breeding and prolonged performance, it 
would seem as though correct inheritance overshadowed 
in importance correct form, as the results in breeding 
from correct form, in the absence of correct inheritence. 
would probably be very disappointing; whereas, correct 
form may usually be expected to produce fair results 
during the short period covered by the finishing process 
for the block, in the absence of any knowledge of inheri- 
tance other than that which form furnishes. Where the 
two are combined, the guaranty of correct selection is so 
far strengthened as to be a reasonably safe guide. 

Quality. — Quality in domestic animals as now gener- 
ally understood means capacity for well doing or capacity 
for good performance in the line or lines for which the 
animals may be kept. The indications of quality, there- 
fore, are the indications of such capacity, hence, it is very 
evident that the indications of quality will not be the 
same in some respects with these classes of animals, since 
they are kept for different uses, in consequence of which 
the basis of interpretation is different. So important is 
the possession of quality in domestic animals, that in its 
absence marked results are unattainable either in the line 
of breeding or feeding. 

Quality is not easily defined. In the broad sense it 
would mean the possession of all the essentials requisite 
to indicate at least average performance and these are 



30 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

many. It would thus include evidences of correct form 
for the end eought, of function as indicated in the form 
and of vigorous digestion and assimilation as indicated 
in the skin and the hair which covers it. In so far as it 
relates to form, it is judged chiefly by the eye, to function 
it is determined by both the eye and hand, and to diges- 
tion and nutrition chiefly by the hand as indicated by the 
sense of touch. 

It would probably be correct to say that the dominant 
thought in the mind when the term quality is used has 
reference to the indications of good digestion and assim- 
ilation because of the high relative importance of these. 
The same animals may be possessed of the indications 
shown by correct form and function in a marked degree, 
but these will not avail when the digestion in the animal 
possessing them is weak or deranged. 

The indications of good digestion and assimilation are 
more difficult to grasp than the indications of correct 
form and function, since a knowledge of them is obtained 
so largely through the sense of touch, and the difficulty 
is further enhanced by the fact that present condition 
of flesh efifects the handling more or less. An animal in 
good flesh handles more satisfactorily than one in low 
flesh, since the skin and hair are better nourished through 
the added vigor given to the circulation of the blood from 
which came the good flesh. The skin will, in consequence, 
be more pliant and the hair more abundant and soft. 
Nevertheless, the difference between the handling of lean 
animals in the same condition is quite marked, sufficiently 
so to furnish a correct basis for judgment. 

The handling of animals with a view to throw light on 
their digestive qualities is done chiefly : (i) Through gen- 
tle pressure of the finger tips on various parts of the 
body ; (2) light pressure and lateral movement of the in- 
side of the four fingers over the ribs ; (3) gently grasping 
the hide also over the ribs between the thumb and fore- 
fingers or within the hand, and (4) passing more or less of 



THE SELECTION OF ANIMALS 3I 

locks of hair between the thumb and two forefingers. 
The greater the degree of electricity in the first instance, 
of ready vibration in the second, of softness and easy 
lifting up in the third, and of soft and velvety feeling in 
the fourth, the stronger relatively are the indications of 
good digestion and assimilation. These modes of judg- 
ing of digestive qualities, in the very nature of things, do 
not apply equally to the different classes of animals be- 
cause of the different physical conformation and furnis'' - 
ings. They apply most perfectly to cattle. 

In beef cattle the chief indications of quality are : ( i ) 
Certain requisites of form essential to a high order of beef 
production (see p. 138); (2) good handling qualities, and 
(3) a quiet disposition. 

In dairy cattle the chief indications of quality include : 
( I ) Certain requisites of form essential to milk production 
of a high order (see p. 142) ; (2) good handling qualities 
though not so necessarily marked as in beef animals; (3) 
indications of sufficient nerve power (see p. 146), and (4) 
good development of the lacteal system (see p. 145). 

In sheep the more important indications of quality are : 
(l) Certain requisites of form essential to making good 
mutton freely (see p. 151 ), and (2) good handling qualities, 
including a pinkish color of the skin and lustrous wool, 
plentiful in supply for the breed and possessed of an 
abundance of yolk (see p. 152). The handling is ascer- 
tained chiefly through the covering of the essential parts, 
the elasticity of the flesh and readiness of vibration in th:^ 
skin under general lateral pressure over the ribs. 

In swine the more important indications of quality 
include: (i) Certain requisites of form essential to th-3 
production of a large quantity of meat of the kind desired 
on the more valuable parts (see p. 153) ; (2) good hand- 
ling qualities, and (3) a quiet disposition. Handling in 
swine as an indication of quality relates chiefly to the 
hair, but does not overlook the skin so apparent to the 
eye (see p. 154). 



32 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

In horses the chief indications of quahty inclvide : 
(i) Those essentials of form which are requisite to enable 
each type or class to render in a marked degree such per- 
formance as it is mainly designed to furnish (see pp. 156 
and 159) ; {2) that degree of cleanliness, soundness and cor- 
rectness of shape in bone and limb, which indicates present 
and prospective prolonged usefulness (see pp. 157 and 160) ; 
(3) such action as indicates high merit in that line for the 
type of class (see p. 161), and (4) evidences of that degree 
of spirit and staying power peculiar to each class, which is 
the promise and also the accompaniment of high per- 
formance. 

Any who may desire to follow the subject further are 
referred to my book, "Animal Breeding," pages 215 to 
22y, where it is discussed at some length. 

Adaptation to environment. — Environment exercises 
a more potent influence on animals that are retained for 
breeding than on those that are selected for a temporary 
period of feeding. But it would not be correct to say 
that environment exercises no influence in the latter re- 
spect, for it does, as may be shown by the adverse influ- 
ence of disturbing sights and sounds on timid lambs, pre- 
viously unused to these, during the feeding period ; by the 
disturbing and retarding influence on development of flies 
and excessive heat on swine that are being fattened ; and 
by the slower fleshing of steers in a feed lot paved with 
mud and mire while being made ready for the block. But 
these influences are largely under the control of the owner, 
and because of the short duration of the feeding period 
may be so far met as to ward off in part, or wholly, the in- 
fluence which they would otherwise exert in retarding the 
development sought, other influences, however, cannot be 
met without an expense that may greatly cut in upon and 
even absorb all profits, and in some respects they cannot 
be met at all. Of the first class are the foods which under 
the natural and artificial conditions mav be furnished. Of 



THE SELECTION OF ANIMALS 33 

the second class are the unalterable conditions that apper- 
tain to the contour of certain soils, to the unremovable ob- 
structions to tillage found in them, and to the degree of 
their exposure, climatic influences also included. 

TJic power of environment to produce modification, 
sometimes almost imperceptible and again more quickly, is 
so great as to be in a sense irresistible. It is one of those 
mighty forces that work in silence. The rapidity of the 
modification produced is proportionate to the intensity of 
the changed conditions to which the animals are subjected. 
Nature unassisted at length brings to that level which the 
natural conditions of soil and climate can maintain, the 
animals subjected to such environment, and man can mod- 
ify the results by the extent to which he resorts to artificial 
conditions when caring for them. 

Natural environment may exercise an influence in 
the direction of increase or decrease according to its 
nature. Illustrations of the former are found : ( i ) in the 
greater size of Southdown sheep on rich prairie lands, than 
of the same on their native downs in England; (2) in the 
wonderful hardihood of Sable island ponies and of certain 
sheep bred on islands ofif the coast of Maine and (3) in the 
great powers of endurance of the average horse bred for 
generations on the range. Illustrations of the latter are 
found : ( i ) In the decreased size of the Lincoln sheep 
brought to hill pastures; (2) in the decrease of bone, size, 
stamina and breeding qualities of swine kept for genera- 
tions in the corn belt of the United States and ( 3 ) in the 
lessened hardihood of West Highland cattle long sub- 
jected to artificial conditions. 

Selecfi)ii^ animals for breeding without due reference to 
environment is a mistake that is all too common, and it is a 
mistake in all instances costly in proportion to the extent to 
which the conditions of environment have been violated in 
the choice. The breeder who attempts to rear Shorthorns 
on pastures only fit to sustain the small Devons under- 
takes the task of the engine which draws a heavy train 



34 Fi-:iiDiX(; farm AxNIMals 

up grade. No question is more frequently put with refer- 
ence to selection than that which asks, "Which is the best 
breed?" The best breed is that which will give the best re- 
turns for the food fed, having due regard for the objects 
for which it is kept, under the conditions of environment 
to which it is subjected. 

Health indications. — No consideration in selection is 
more important than the indications that relate to good 
health whether present or prospective. Under conditions 
unartificial, animals usually die only from old age when 
they do not fall a prey to those that are stronger. If dec- 
imated by some disease, epidemic in its nature, such dis- 
ease has been introduced from some outside source, and 
when it runs its course does not originate again within 
the breed. 

The moment, however, that artificial conditions are m- 
troduced. the danger arises that stamina will be lowered, 
notwithstanding other advantages that may be gained, and 
that it will be lowered in proportion to the extent to 
which the animals are subjected to artificial conditions, as 
strikingly illustrated in the vigor of the wild hog as com- 
pared with the pampered hog of the corn belt. Happily, 
however, artificial conditions so conducive to generous pro- 
duction when of the right kind, are in no way necessarily 
inconsistent with the maintenance of good health in ani* 
mals. It is when the conditions are unwise or are carried 
beyond a prudential limit that they unduly lower stamina, 
as for instance, when cattle and sheep are too closely 
housed in winter, or where swine are fed too continuously 
on corn. 

Conditions of good health. — The following are promi- 
nent indications of good health in animals : ( i ) A full, 
bright eye. The moment that the general health becomes 
impaired the eye begins to lose its brightness, and as 
disease progresses, it sinks and becomes languid, the 
immediate cause being lack of sustenance. (2) A moist, 
dewy muzzle. With derangement in the circulation and 



THE SliLECTlON OF ANIMALS 35 

a rising temperature, moistness in the muzzle, which is 
always abundant in a healthy animal, grows less, the 
immediate cause being inactivity of the excretory or- 
gans. (3) A fairly active play of the ears. Such action 
is the evidence of generated power seeking opportunity 
to expend itself. (4) An abundant, smooth and glossy 
coat. The same instances that produce elasticity in the 
hide produce glossiness in the coat. But the degree of 
such smoothness and glossiness is much influenced by 
the weather. Subjected to exposure, the animal may 
be in good health and yet have a much rougher coat than 
o-:e not so exposed. (5) An active carriage. An active 
carriage bears testimony to healthful action in all the 
organs of the system, and especially to those concerned 
in digestion. No sooner do these organs lose vigor than 
there is a corresponding loss of freeness of movement and 
activity in the carriage. These indications have been taken 
substantially from the book. "Animal Rreedi:ig," by the au- 
thor. Closely allied to them are the indications of con- 
stitutional vigor discussed in the same work (p. 290). 

But the germs of some diseases may exist in animals 
and no indications of the same be manifest to the eye. 
Such are tuberculosis in cattle, tape and also stomach 
worms in sheep. In the summer of 1905 the author 
saw a herd of 32 head of Scotch Shorthorn cows at 
Rockland, Ont., Canada, every one of which had re- 
sponded to the tuberculin test. They fed in a pasture 
on the farm of Hon. W. C. Edwards who was experi- 
menting in a large way as to the outcome of rearing 
calves from tuberculous dams, but on milk obtained from 
healthy animals. For some time previously Mr. Ed- 
wards had been purchasing representatives of cert-ain Scotch 
families to be retained for future breeding. In every in- 
stance, when brought to the farm they had been sub- 
jected to the tuberculin test and those which responded 
were given a place in the tuberculous herd. In the high 



36 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

character of the breeding, in magnificent individual develop- 
ment and in satisfactory condition as to flesh and 
apparent thrift at the time, it is more than questionable 
if this herd, for the number of animals in it, could have 
been equaled in America, and yet, every now and then, 
some individual of the herd would pine away and at 
length succumb to the disease, nor can it be certainly 
told from the appearance, whether tapeworm or stom- 
ach worm is present or not in mature sheep. If indi- 
cations exist, therefore, which happily they do, that are 
any guaranty of prospective good health in animals, their 
importance will be at once apparent. 

The indications of prospective good health, or rather, 
indications that are a guaranty of these, are to be sought 
in the records of the ancestry in the near generations 
and in the health of the herd during recent years. For 
instance, if a cow that has suckled her own calves has 
produced one or more that has been found tubercular 
when purchased for breeding, it would be very unwise 
to invest in any of the progeny reared by the same. If 
stomach worm or tapeworm has been known to dec- 
imate a flock of sheep during recent years, it would be 
exceedingly unwise to purchase breeding animals from 
the same unless suflicient evidence has been furnished 
that the germs have been removed from the flock. Since 
the seeds of the disease may thus be introduced with an- 
imals apparently in perfect health, and which may never ■ 
succumb to such parasitic diseases or show any indica- 
tions of injury from them, and yet those same seed germs 
may prove the source of great harm to the flock in the 
future, even to the extent of destroying it. When swine 
are purchased for breeding from herds that are accus- 
tomed to run behind cattle in the feed or pasture lot, 
that are being fed on w^hole grain, the danger is present 
that tuberculosis may thus be introduced into the breed- 
ing herd, unless it is positively known that no individuals 
of the breed are affected with tuberculosis. 



THE SKLECTION OF AxNIMALS 37 

To purchase such animals for feeding may not incur 
great hazard with the animals themselves, because of 
the short duration of the feeding term. But it does al- 
ways incur hazard to breeding animals on the same 
farm unless these are at all times kept from coming in 
contact with the feeding animals or their surroundings. 
To purchase swine for feeding in proximity to cholera 
infected areas, is always hazardous, as an outbreak of the 
same may not only decimate the swine in the feed lot, 
but in the breeding pens also. The aim should be to 
rear the animals for the feed lot to the greatest extent 
practicable on the farms on which they are finished. The 
barter carried on in live stock in rural communities is re- 
sponsible more than anything else for the distribution of live 
stock diseases. 

Transmission. — It is not necessary of course to con- 
sider transmitting properties when selecting animals for 
feeding only. In such instances, inheritance may be 
greatly important, but, since the animals are not to be 
used in breeding, transmitting properties are of no ac- 
count. But when the selection pertains to animals to be 
retained for breeding, then it becomes all important. 

Correct transmission is another name for prepotency, 
and prepotency means the power to transmit individual 
and breed properties to the progeny. The guarantees of 
desirable prepotency are : ( i ) Purity of breeding, for sev- 
eral generations on the side of both sire and dam: (2) 
high performance in the individuals of the near ancestry 
on the side of both sire and dam; (3) line breeding, bnt 
not carried to the point of weakened stamina ; and (4) 
indications of marked individual stamina or bodily vigor. 
An animal possessed of all these requisites will assuredly 
be prepotent. But when selecting animals for breeding, 
it is not only necessary that they shall be prepotent, but 
it is all important that they shall be possessed of prepo- 
tency adapted to the end sought. Prepotency in trans- 
mitting flesh making properties to the dairy cow rather 



38 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

than milk producing properties would make high class 
dairy performance impossible, and prepotency in trans- 
mitting a weak type of stamina would soon result in ret- 
rogression, alarming in character. It is all important, 
therefore, that animals shall be chosen for breeding with 
the most careful reference to desirable prepotency. 

Desirable prepotency, in other words desirable trans- 
mission, may be defined as prepotency in consonance 
with the principal objects sought by the breeder. In 
breeding horses it will mean transmission relating pri- 
marily to labor or speed requisites as the case may be ; in 
breeding beef cattle to desirable form and milk elabora- 
tion ; in dual cattle to desirable equilibrium in form, milk 
production and meat production ; in sheep, to desirable 
form for profitable mutton production and wool pro- 
duction of the kind wanted ; in swine, to desirable 
form for making heavy hams and shoulders or a large 
amount of bacon. Such prepotency relates to the pos- 
session of many additional requisites in each instance, but 
these are stated with more or less of precision in the 
chapter on type or form (see p. 133). 

Bearing on digestion. — It will be evident from what has 
been said, that transmission has an important bearing on 
the character of the digestion, and vigorous digestion has 
an important bearing on the generation of the requisite 
force or speed wanted in horses, meat or milk elabora- 
tion or both in cattle ; mutton or wool production in 
sheep, and fat or leaner meat in pork. It would naturally 
follow, therefore, that in prepotent animals, all digestion 
will have, so to speak, a natural bias in the direction of 
production for which animals of the breed or grade 
are primarily kept, that is to say, it will be bias in the 
direction of producing force, speed, flesh, milk, mutton, 
wool, fat or lean. It is also self evident that this bias 
will not be markedly interchangeable, that is to say, if 
acting strongly in one direction, as in meat making, its 
action will be proportionately lessened m the opposite 



THE SELECTION OF ANIMALS 39 

direction as in milk making-. It follows then that 
highest attainment in milk and also in beef production 
cannot be secured in one and the same bovine. The same is 
true of speed and force in the horse, mutton and wool 
making in the sheep, and fat and lean production in 
swine. But this fact is in no sense antagonistic with 
medium attainment in both directions when the animals 
have been so bred. 

In the face of these irrevocable laws, it has been 
claimed that a cattle beast of dairy or scrub blood will 
make gains as cheaply and as quickly as a steer of beef 
blood, some tests conducted at experiment stations seem 
to favor this view. Other tests, but probably not so 
many, favor the opposite view. With reference to the 
former it may be said that they relate to periods of feed- 
ing of short duration, and it may be they are accounted 
for in part by the leaner condition in which dairy and 
scrub animals usually are when the period of fattening 
begins, and In part because of the influence of individual 
vigor on digestion. 

This explains why. in the face of the fact, that the 
compact form, other things being equal, will produce 
gains most cheaply and quickly, a less compact form 
will in certain instances, excel in both respects. It also 
explains why, though constitutional vigor is usually most 
strikingly associated with good chest development, ani- 
mals with less of chest development will frequently 
possess more vigor than the former. 

Nevertheless the fact remains, that the unchangeable 
law of transmission that like begets like, other things be- 
ing equal, should and doubtless will enable the well bred 
beef animal to make gains more quickly and cheaply 
than the well bred dairy, common or scrub animal. If 
this is not true, then by parity of reasoning it should 
follow, other things being equal, that this high class beef 
animal should under certain conditions produce milk 
as abundantly and cheaply as the high class dairy animal, 



40 FEEDING FARiNI ANIMALS 

which is absurd. It would also follow that it would be 
impossible to fix a bias in the system pronouncedly in 
the direction of one kind of production as meat or milk, 
as a reasonably certain factor in transmission. 

Bearing on <//;a//i3'.— Transmission also has an impor- 
tant bearing on quality in performance and production, 
and also on habit. The influence which it exercises on 
performance is seen in the character of the action 
possessed by draft and standard bred horses respec- 
tively. The influence which it exerts on quality is very 
clearly shown in what may be termed breed character- 
istics in the quality of meat, milk and wool. The in- 
fluence which it exercises on habit is well shown in the dif- 
ference in the prolificacy of certain breeds of sheep and 
swine. 

While easy and vigorous action is required in kind, of 
both draft and standard bred horses, the speed of the 
latter must greatly exceed that of the former, and the 
same is true of the ability to maintain speed prolonged 
in dviration. On the other hand, the strength of the 
former must greatly exceed that of the latter. 

In beef and dairy breeds of cattle the difference in the 
depth of the covering of loin and sirloin, and in the 
weight of the thigh is markedly in favor of the former. 
The latter also puts on relatively much more internal fat 
when being finished. In the beef breeds the difiference 
between the covering of fat on the loin and the streak- 
ing and flecking of the meat in various parts of the car- 
cass, that is the intermingling of the fat and lean, is 
marked. The same is true of the mutton breeds of 
sheep and also of the texture of the meat in these with 
reference to toughness or tenderness and coarseness or 
fineness of fiber. In swine the difiference in quality is 
markedly seen in the contrast in the amount of streak- 
ing of the fat and lean in the side meat. 



THE SELECTIOX OF ANIMALS 4I 

Some breeds of dairy cattle produce milk with a high 
percentage of fat as a breed characteristic in the milk, 
but only moderate in quantity. Such for instance are 
the Jersey and Guernsey. They produce a quality in 
milk which it has taken centuries of careful breeding to 
reach ; other breeds as the Holstein, produce a large flow 
of milk with a relatively low per cent of butter fat, but 
the claim that it is richer in casein may possibly be 
correct. So fixed is the character of the transmission in 
the instances cited, that years and years of careful breed- 
ing and selection would be required to make any impor- 
tant modification, for the reason that modification in 
quality of production is far more difficult to attain than 
modification in form. 

Contrasts in sJiccp. — The wide and striking contrasts in 
the character of the wool in sheep furnish notable in- 
stances of the potency of transmission relating to quality 
in production. In some breeds of sheep not more than 
500 wool fibers are produced on one inch square of tJie 
body, while on others as many as 1,500 have been pro- 
duced. In some breeds the normal length of fibre is not 
more than 2 to 3 inches, in others it is not less than 10 to 
12 inches in very good specimens. To transform the one 
kind of wool into the exact counterpart of the other, more 
especially when the change is from extremely fine to ex- 
tremely coarse or the opposite, would take more years 
than are usually allotted to an average life. Some breeds 
of sheep, as the Dorset, are very prolific, and the same is 
true of some of the breeds of bacon swine; other breeds 
in both classes produce less numerously and less regu- 
larly. The breeding habit also influences the season for 
breeding, as shown in the production of autumn lambs 
by the Dorsets as a normal feature of production. But 
modification in breeding habit is much more easily se- 
cured than modification in quality of production. 



42 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Food exercises more or less of an influence in relation 
to transmission in the lines mentioned, but it usually acts 
slowly as a factor in securing permanent modification, 
especially in relation to quality in production. The most 
potent influence in securing such modification is the 
proper selection of the purely bred sires used in breeding. 



CHAPTER III 

PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN SELECTING 
FOODS 

In selecting foods for feeding farm animals, for what- 
soever purpose they may be kept, certain principles 
should be observed which have the strength of law. 
Prominent among these are the following: (i) The aim 
should be to choose foods so that they may be fed in 
approximate equilibrium as to their constituents; (2) the 
equilibrium or balance in foods varies much with the 
class of animals to which they are fed, with the age of the 
animals in the same class, and with the object sought 
from feeding them; (3) under some conditions it may be 
more profitable to feed foods out of balance than in 
equilibrium as to their constituents; (4) the chemical 
analysis of a food is not in itself a complete measure of 
its value for feeding ; ( 5 ) when choosing foods a due re- 
gard must be had to the proportion of bulk or concentra- 
tion in the same with reference to the end sought 
from feeding them in order to obtain the best results; (6) 
succulent foods are more favorable to milk production 
than those of similar analysis as to nutrients, but lacking 
in succulence; (7) variety in foods will produce returns 
more satisfactory than will those of similar analysis, but 
lacking in variety when fed for long periods; (8) the 
value of foods is influenced by the nutrients they contain, 
by the condition of the nutrients as to digestibility, by 
the influence which they exert on development and pro- 
duction, and by the fertility which they furnish. 

Equilibrium in foods. — Equilibrium in foods means the 
possession of nutrients in such proportion as are neces- 
sary to meet the needs of the animals to which they are 



44 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

fed. The chief food elements in foods are known as pro- 
tein, carbohydrates, ether extract and ash. They also 
contain more or less water according to the kind of the 
food and the stage of maturity at which it is fed. Each 
of these food elements has a distinct mission to perform 
in the sustenance of the body. Protein, for instance, is 
chiefly concerned in producing flesh and the vital fluids of 
the body, carbohydrates in producing fat and heat and 
ether extract in producing fat. These foods are fed in 
equilibrium when the components which they furnish 
are in exact proportion to the needs of the animals to 
which they are fed. For instance, the protein in the 
food is in equilibrium when it is present in sufficient 
quantity to meet the exact needs of the animals to which 
it is fed with reference to flesh production. Carbohy- 
drates are in equilibrium when they meet exactly the 
needs of the animals with reference to heat and fat pro- 
duction. Likewise fat is in equilibrium when it properly 
fulfils its mission and the same is true of ash when it 
properly furnishes the elements for the growth and sus- 
tenance of bone. These are also in equilibrium when they 
bear a relation to one another resulting in the most 
economic use of each. 

It is very apparent, therefore, that when these food ele- 
ments are fed out of balance waste must result. For in- 
stance, should protein be fed in excess, the amount fed 
in excess of the needs of the animal would be wasted. 
The same would be true of the other food elements, foi 
the system can only appropriate so much ; any amount 
fed beyond this will riot be utilized. 

The danger is also present that there will be one-sided 
developments where protein is fed in excess, the muscular 
development will be in excess of the development of fat 
and bone in the growing animal. When carbohydrates 
are fed in excess muscular development will be arrested 
by an excess of fat production. When ash is fed in ex- 
cess, bone development will be out of balance. Results 



THE SELECTIOX OF FOODS 45 

the opposite will follow if these nutrients are insufficient 
in supply. It would be easily possible to feed foods so 
out of balance as to entirely defeat the objects for which 
animals are grown. An exclusive corn diet for instance, 
fed to swine grown and maintained for breeding uses, 
would in time, reduce size, weaken bone and destroy 
breeding properties, so highly carbonaceous is it. 

Tz^'o factors add much to the difficulty found in feed- 
ing foods in equilibrium or balance. One of these is the 
variations in the needs of the animals to which the foods 
are fed, and the other is the variations in foods at differ- 
ent periods of growth. Take for instance the horse 
grown for work. When a colt, much protein is needed 
in the food to make muscle and much ash to make bone. 
When the animal is grown and set to work, a much 
larger proportion of carbohydrates are needed to sustain 
energy and to prevent excessive waste of tissue. These 
variations must be taken into account by the successful 
feeder and he must strive to govern his work accord- 
ingly. 

Vnriatiotis in the foods are to some extent caused by 
variations in climate and soil. These are not usually 
greatly significant in degree. But those variations are 
greatly significant that relate to the constituents of 
plants at different stages of development. Take for 
instance the corn plant. In the early stages of its 
growth, it is succulent, and not specially rich in carbo- 
hydrates. These increase with increasing maturity in 
the plant. Subsequently to harvesting, the food nutrients 
are decreased in the fodder by exposure and it loses in 
palatability. Hence the value of corn as a food plant 
varies continually at every stage of its growth and 
utilization. 

Some few foods are balanced in themselves. Grass is 
one of these. This at least is true of some kinds of 
grass. Because it is so, additional food is not usually 
given to animals abundantly supplied with grass. 



46 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Usually, however, it is absolutely necessary to feed foods 
in combination, for the reason first, that one is lacking 
in certain food elements, and second, that another 
possesses these, hence, feeding the second makes it the 
complement of the first. 

From what has been said, it will be readily apparent 
that the whole question of feeding animals is one that 
calls for the exercise of much intelligence. It is a com- 
plicated work. So complicated is it that it may be al- 
most impossible in practical feeding to feed foods in 
exact balance. Usually of course it would be desirable 
to feed them thus. Notwithstanding, such feeding may 
not give results absolutely satisfactory as is shown later 
(see p. 48). The qualifying factors of digestibility, pal- 
atability and incidental influence on digestion must be 
considered. For practical purposes it will suffice to feed 
foods in approximate equilibrium. It is not difficult to 
feed them thus. From such feeding there may be some 
waste, but it will not be serious. Tables giving the 
chemical composition of feeding stuffs are easily access- 
ible. Some of these give the constituents of digestibility 
as well, hence the individual who uses the foods which 
he may feed according to the information thus given, 
will not fail to feed them in approximate balance. 

Changes in equilibrium. — The equilibrium or balance 
in foods varies much with the class of animals to which' 
they are fed, with the age of the animajs in the same 
class and with the objects sought from feeding them. 
A ration that is in exact balance to meet the needs of a 
horse at work, of cows giving milk and of swine that are 
growing is so radically different that the difference will 
be at once apparent to any who are at all familiar with 
the needs of these classes of animals. The first calls for 
food with concentration and but moderate bulk, the 
second calls for much bulk and not more than moderate 
concentration, and the third requires but little bulk and 
much concentration. It is evident, therefore, that the 



THE SELECTION OF FOODS 47 

measure of value in the same food for the different 
classes of animals is very different. Oats for instance, are 
more valuable relatively to the horse at work than to the 
cow in milk, since they are unexcelled in producing 
energy and in sustaining muscle so much needed by the 
horse. The cow is not so much in need of sustenance of 
the kinds named. She wants foods that will produce 
milk freely at moderate cost. Other foods will do this 
which usually cost less, but oats are more valuable rela- 
tively for cows than for swine, since the large amount 
of hull renders them less well adapted to the digestion of 
swine than to that of cows. 

The necessity for changing the equilibrium or balance 
in the foods fed with the age of the animal within the 
class is equally apparent. It is so whether considered 
with reference to digestibility, bulk or concentration, or 
the character of the nutrients. The young calf is sus- 
tained for a time solely on food taken in the liquid form 
and easily digestible. Later meal is given nearly all of 
which is digestible ; as time goes on the young animal 
becomes gradually more capable of digesting food with- 
out harm which contains relatively more crude fiber. 
With increasing age the calf becomes more capable of 
digesting more and more bulky foods. In fact these are 
necessary to its proper development. If they are with- 
held unduly, the want of distention in the stomach and 
digestive system generally will be proportionate, and 
just in proportion to that want of distension will be the 
lack of capacity to take enough food to result in high 
performance. 

The necessity for such variation is usually recognized. 
The same cannot always be said with reference to modi- 
fication in the nutrients given, notwithstanding that the 
latter is in some respects as essential as the former. The 
young animal will not develop a frame equal to the 
average in its class unless it is given enough of ash in the 
food to accomplish such an end. When matured, ash 



48 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

is needed only to repair waste. So also it must have 
enough protein to supplement the ash in building the 
framework and in covering it with the requisite muscle, 
Wliere either or both are lacking the development will not 
be of the highest order. Carbohydrates are needed to 
furnish the requisite heat and fat which the animal re- 
quires. They are needed in less proportion when it is 
young than when it grows older, for the reason first, that 
the machinery of digestion runs more rapidly near the 
birth period and consequently generates more heat in 
proportion to the amount of food consumed, and second, 
that during the period of growth much muscle is wanted 
rather than much fat. It is very evident, therefore, that 
the ration suited to a mature animal at rest should con- 
tain more of carbohydrates relatively and less of protein 
than would be suited to a young animal 

The objects for which animals are fed are equally insis- 
tent in their demand for variation in the food given to them. 
The calf that is being prepared for veal calls for food that 
is rich in fat, such as whole milk or its equivalents, that 
grown for being fattened at a later period or for milk 
production calls for food with but litle fat in it, such as 
skim milk furnishes. The animal grown for baby beef, 
must have more of carbohydrates in its food than that grown 
for being fattened later. Likewise the animal that is 
giving milk must be given more of protein and less of 
carbohydrates than would suffice for the same animal 
while being fattened. Similarly, illustrations could be 
multiplied of the ' necessity for variation in the food 
nutrients in feeding all classes of domestic animals kept 
on the farm. 

Foods not in equilibrium. — In some instances it may 
be advantageous viewed from the standpoint of profit to 
feed foods out of balance, that is to feed an excess of car- 
bohydrates in some cases and an excess of protein in 
others. This may happen when some food factor, rich 



THE SELECTION OF FOODS 49 

in one class of nutrients, is relatively cheap and another 
class, opposite in character, is relatively high. 

It has been found profitable, in some instances, to feed 
corn out of balance rather than to go to the expense of 
purchasing protein to feed it in balance. When corn is 
fed thus it will not be possible to secure gains so satis- 
factory as when it is fed in balance, but it is possible in 
many instances to secure gain thus, more cheaply than 
if it resulted from feeding balanced foods under these con- 
ditions. When corn was so abundant that it was used as 
fuel in running steam engines, it was in order to feed 
such corn out of balance to both cattle and swine up to a 
certain limit, rather than to purchase the protein needed 
in order to balance the ration. 

It has also been found profitable in some instances to 
feed protein in excess, as for instance in the western 
valleys where alfalfa grows abundantly and carbohy- 
drate foods as corn are scarce. The alfalfa thus fed out 
of balance is in part to some extent wasted, but allowing 
for this, the product resulting is more cheaply made than 
it would be through the purchase of corn to balance up 
the ration. 

There are localities in which it is not so easy to grow 
foods in balance as out of balance, because of natural 
adaptation. For instance, in western mountain valleys 
it would be possible to grow alfalfa so as to obtain much 
more food per acre than could be obtained from corn. 
Likewise in certain areas of the western states it is 
easily possible to obtain food nutrients from corn, greatly 
in excess of those obtained from a similar area in the 
form of clover or alfalfa or indeed of any other protein 
food. In these facts and under these conditions, the 
feeding of foods out of balance finds much justification. 
Nevertheless it should be the aim where at all possible 
to grow foods so that they can be fed in balance. It is 
usually much easier to obtain a sufficiency of carbohy- 
drates than of protein, because of their abundance, but 



50 FEEDING FARM ANIIMALS 

it should be the aun, nevertheless, to grow a sufficiency 
of protein. The value of protein foods grown in the 
locality cannot usually be measured by the food which 
they furnish. They generally add to the fertility of the 
soil in the process of growth. In fact they always do if 
of the legume class. The fertility which they bring to the 
land in some instances, goes far to equal the value of the 
food nutrients which they furnish. It would probably 
be correct to say that the adaptation is such in nearly all 
localities, that a sufficiency of both protein and carbohy- 
drate plants may be grown to make it possible to feed 
them in balance without the necessity of purchasing from 
an outside source On the other hand such purchase 
would not only be justifiable but would also be com- 
mendable, when relative values will justify the same. 

Nor does it always follow that such unbalanced feeding 
will be the most profitable in the end though it may be 
the cheaper in the meantime. Suppose, when growing 
an animal for breeding purposes, for labor, or for milk 
giving of a high order, that during the growing period it 
is fed food in excess that is highly carbonaceous, as corn, 
the usefulness of the animal for either purpose would be 
materially lessened. Its size would be less than normal. 
Its bone would not be of the best and the habit in diges- 
tion of using the food materials for building and main- 
taining the body would be so fixed that the milk giving 
capacity would be lessened. In such instances it would 
be better to purcrhase some protein to help at least to 
balance the ration, unless the cost of the same was ex- 
cessive. When, however, the question is one of finishing 
an animal which is to be sent to the block after a few 
months of feeding, there need be no hesitancy in feeding 
foods out of balance even for prolonged periods, where 
the lacking element or elements are present in such 
quantity as to prevent any loss further than is entailed 
in the waste of the food fed in excess, when values 



TIIL; SELliCTlON UF FCJUDS 5 1 

justify such a course. It may also be justifiable to feed 
them out of balance. 

Analysis not a complete guide. — When selecting- 
rations for feeding the fact should be borne in mind that 
the chemical analysis of foods is not a complete guide as 
to their feeding value. It is not for the reason first, that 
the analysis does not give the exact degree of the 
digestibility, second, that it says nothing about the palat- 
ability, and third, that it takes no account of the influ- 
ence which the product exercises on the general diges- 
tion. 

The analysis gives the various components of any food 
viewed from the standpoint of the nutrients which it con- 
tains, but it does not always tell what proportion of the vari- 
ous nutrients is digestible. Two foods may give the same 
chemical analysis and yet the feeding value of the one 
may greatly exceed that of the other, for no other reason 
than that a much larger proportion of the several nutri- 
ents in the one are more digestible than in the other. Of 
course the digestibility of foods viewed from the stand- 
point of averages has been worked out by the chemist 
and the experimenter laboring in conjunction, but the 
digestibility can only be taken as an approximate guide. 

The importance of palatability in foods as a measure 
of their value is very great. Other things being equal, a 
food is valuable in proportion as it is palatable, that is, 
in proportion to the degree of the palatability which it 
possesses, and in proportion to the percentage of the 
same consumed as the result of such palatability. The 
analysis of the chemist can throw no light on either 
aspect of this question. At one time it was supposed 
that palatability was important only because of the in- 
fluence which it exercised on the consumption of food. 
Now it is known that it exercises more or less influence 
on digestion. That has been demonstrated by experi- 
ment. It aids digestion by increasing the flow of the 
gastric juices and possibly in other ways. But the most 



5^ FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

important influence which it exercises is on the in- 
creased consumption which results from increased pala- 
tability. The influences that affect palatabihty are variety 
in plants, maturity, harvesting and preparation for feeding. 

A food may be fed possessed of certain nutrients and 
while it may answer well the purpose for which it is fed, 
it cannot be said that it exercises any perceptible influence 
on the other foods fed along with it. Other foods again are 
fed which invariably exercise such an influence. They do 
so by the favorable influence which they exert on the diges- 
tive organs and digestive processes. They put the system 
in better tone. For instance, should the faeces indicate con- 
stipation, some food can be fed in limited quantity which 
corrects such a condition. Such a food is found in wheat, 
bran and oil cake. Other foods may produce undue laxness. 
The influence may be counteracted by feeding but a limited 
quantity of some other food. Such a food is found in dry 
fodder of certain kinds. The analyses of these foods can- 
not indicate anything as to these influences. It would not 
be possible to measure the additional influence thus exerted 
by these foods, but under some conditions it would seem 
safe to say that this influence is in some instances of greater 
value than the direct influence exerted through their food 
nutrients. (See page 276.) 

Bulk and concentration in foods. — A due relation 
must be maintained between the relative bulk and concen- 
tration in the foods fed. The laws of physical conformation 
demand this and the demand is imperative. This relation 
differs first, with the different classes of animals ; second, 
with the same class at different ages ; and third, with the 
objects for which they are kept. It cannot be ignored by the 
successful breeder and feeder, because of the relation which 
it bears first, to relative production ; second, to relative 
cost in relation to production ; and third, to the influence 
which it exercises on continued production. 

This relation differs greatly in different classes of ani- 
mals. They differ greatly in their capacity to consume and 



THE SELECTION OF FOODS 53 

digest bulky foods. Chauveau gives the total capacity of 
the stomach of the horse as 19 quarts, of the ox as 226.9 
quarts, of the sheep in its various divisions 31.3 quarts, and 
of the hog as 8.5 quarts. With horses and swine, however, 
the intestinal capacity is much larger than with cattle and 
sheep. Notwithstanding, the superior ability of the latter 
to consume relatively larger quantities of bulky foods is 
apparent, both from the relatively larger stomach capacity 
and from the better mastication which they can give to 
these while ruminating. The pig, because of the smallness 
of the stomach, is the least well adapted to consume bulky 
food. To attempt to rear an animal thus constituted on bulky 
foods only would be fatal to success. 

The difference in the needs of the animals of the same 
class at different ages is very marked with reference to the 
bulk and concentration in the foods fed. The stomach of a 
calf is relatively small. This is particularly true of the first 
stomach. To feed a young calf bulky food would be fatal 
to its well being. The stomach has not sufficient distension 
for such a food, nor have the organs sufficient capacity to 
digest it. The introduction of bulky foods must be gradual 
and increasingly progressive. The adaptation to modified 
digestive capacity gradually secures the distension neces- 
sary. By the time a cattle beast becomes grown, it may 
easily be maintained on bulky foods only. This change in 
digestive capacity is found in all domestic animals, but not 
in equal degree, because of the differences in digestive 
capacity. 

The objects for which the animals are kept, influence 
in a marked degree the relative proportions in the bulk and 
concentration in the foods fed. It would seem correct to 
say that necessity for bulk in foods is greatest during the 
growing period, and that the necessity for concentration 
increases with production required from the living animal 
in the form of food and labor, and that it is greatest when 
the animal is being finished for the block. Under favor- 
able conditions, horses, cattle and sheep may be grown to 



54 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

maturity but not to earliest maturity on bulky foods alone ; 
especially is tbis true of the two latter. But the best returns 
in milk and labor cannot be secured without more or less 
concentration in the foods fed. 

The digestive capacity is not sufficiently ample to give 
the highest returns in milk in the one case and labor in 
the other, notwithstanding that such foods may be fed in 
equilibrium as to their constituents. When animals are 
being finished in finest form for the block, the necessity for 
concentration in the foods is greatest. As in the case of 
animals producing milk and labor, they cannot consume 
enough of tlie l)ulky foods to furnish a suffxiency of nutri- 
ents to produce the milk required in the one instance and 
labor in the other. On the necessity for a sufficiency of 
concentrated food to efifect the end sought is based 
the universal custom of feeding grain in the instances named 
in addition to the fodders. 

That the feeder who ignores the intimate relation be- 
tween bulk and concentration in foods will pay a propor- 
tionate penalty is easily shown. The breeder who grows 
a heifer on foods too concentrated rears an animal so lack- 
ing in stomach distension, that it cannot consume a suffi- 
ciency of bulk products. The one who grows a beast on 
foods too bulky for its tender age, has an animal with so 
much of paunch that it will have an excess of waste in the 
carcass for highest use on the block. Swine reared subse- 
quent to the weaning period on pasture will not make suf- 
ficient gains. Those fed during the growing period on 
corn only, will not" make sufficient growth. The necessity 
for e(|uilibrium in bulk and concentration in the foods fed 
would seem to be about as important as the necessity for 
equilibrium in the chemical relation of foods, and yet it has 
been given much less attention than the former by the au- 
tliorities on animal nutrition. The relative cost of bulky 
foods and concentrates respectively should be duly consid- 
ered when feeding animals. Other things being equal, the 



THE SKLt'XTlUN OF FOODS 55 

greatest profit will be made from feeding these in equilib- 
rium. But because of the coutrast in vakics it may be 
advantageous sometimes to feed them somewhat out of 
equihbrium. For instance, when corn was low in price, in 
certain states of the corn belt years ago and clover was not 
plentiful, or not to be had at all. it was found profitable to 
feed corn out of equilibrium, both in regard to the needs 
of the animal viewed from the standpoint of the chemist 
and also that of the needs of the animal as to bulk require- 
ment. Again, when lambs are being fattened on alfalfa and 
grain in the western mountain valleys where alfalfa is 
very cheap relatively and grain is dear, it has been found 
profitable in some instances to feed grain below the equi- 
librium of the requirement in concentration and to feed 
alfalfa above the same. 

The influence of equilibrium in feeding bulky and con- 
centrated foods on continued production is very marked. 
Feed a calf too large a proportion of concentrated food, 
and its power for all time to give the highest possible return 
for the food fed is reduced. It may be reduced first from 
weakened digestion, or, second, from want of development 
in the digestive tract. Feed a colt too large a proportion 
of bulky food while in process of development, and its 
capacity for speed will be lowered because of the excess of 
paunch development which it must carry. Feed a dairy 
cow too large a proportion of grain and her digestive pow- 
ers will be permanently injured, because they have been 
overtaxed, and tlie same is true of a steer fed so much grain 
that he loses appetite. With a due proportion of bulk to 
concentrates, these results would never follow in the cases 
named. They never occur but they tend to curtail produc- 
tion, hence the great importance of feeding foods in equilib- 
rium as to bulk and concentration. 

Succulence and milk production. — That succulent 
foods are more favorable to milk production than those of 
similar analysis as to nutrients but lacking in succulence, 



56 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

could be premised from the season of the year when mam- 
mals in a wild state nourish their young. It is also shown 
in many ways in the experience of feeders, and it has been 
demonstrated by actual experiment. 

Nature has so regulated the influences that are con- 
cerned in reproduction, that animals dependent on herbage 
for sustenance bring forth their young at that season when 
the same is succulent. The bison of the western plains 
brings forth her young when the spring time grasses are 
tender and juicy. They are more abundant in the autumn, 
but they lack the succulence, hence the young could not be 
so well sustained at that period. But the richness of the 
autumn grasses is favorable to breeding, hence the animals 
mate at that season, which brings the young into existence 
at a time which is most favorable for providing them with 
suitable sustenance. 

The experience of feeders has abundantly shown the 
closeness of the relation between succulence and milk pro- 
duction. It has been found that cows in milk, during win- 
ter and spring, invariably increase in the milk flow when 
first turned out on succulent pasture. This result will follow, 
even though foods possessed of succulence in a considerable 
degree, as roots, form much of the ration, the other portion 
being dry fodder and grain. When thus grazed grass usu- 
ally forms all the ration, and is therefore all succulent. It 
is also highly nutritious, hence as a result, the milk flow 
is increased. So invariably does this result follow, that 
many dairymen plan to have their cows produce calves in 
the autumn, that the milk flow may be thus increased again 
when it has begun to decline. If, on the other hand, the 
period of decline begins in the autumn, at that season when 
the animals are taken in from the pasture to be put on dry 
food, it will be almost impossible to prevent it, even though 
they should be ever so liberally fed on dry food. Various 
green foods invariably increase the milk flow when they are 
added to a ration consisting of dry food. This result fol- 
lows, even though the nutrients in the dry food should be 



THE SELECTION OF FOODS 57 

proportionately reduced. The list will probably include all 
varieties of green products grown upon the farm when fed 
at a certain stage, and also certain other products when fed 
mature. The former includes such products as soiling foods 
of all kinds, the tops of field roots, cabbage leaves and rape ; 
and the latter such crops as corn ensilage, field roots of all 
kinds, cabbage heads and Kohl-rabi. 

Danish experiments conducted with a large nurnber of 
cows showed that feeding roots materially increased the 
milk flow, even when concentrates were fed freely, but with 
heavy grain feeding it was found that one pound of the 
concentrates was equal to lo pounds of mangels. With 
lighter grain feeding the results would probably have been 
more favorable to the mangels. At the New Jersey exper- 
iment station, it was found that silage as compared with 
corn fodder increased the milk flow by 12.8 per cent. At 
the Maine experiment station corn silage added to a ration 
of good hay and concentrates also materially increased the 
milk yield. 

Variety in foods. — That variety in foods will produce 
returns more satisfactory than can be obtained frum foods 
of similar analysis but lacking in variety when fed for long 
periods is rendered probable in the following, and it may 
be in other ways : ( i ) In the great variety in the products 
which nature furnishes; (2) by analogy in the dietary of 
the human family; (3) by the fact that animals tire sooner 
of some foods than others, and ( 4 ) by the experience of 
practical feeders. 

In nature's garden, the open prairie, many varieties 
of grasses will be found on the same acre and on every acre 
of the prairie. This provision of nature would seem to 
have a twofold object in view. The first is to stock the 
ground with plants, each one of which will draw sustenance 
from the storehouse in the soil adapted to its needs. The 
second is to furnish that variety which sustains the appe- 
tite in animals, to the extent of leading to increase in con- 
sumption which in turn results in increased production. In 



58 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

this way an increase in the consumption of food and result- 
ant products from the same is secured. 

The human family tire of foods that furnish no change, 
even though the foods are adapted in their constituents to 
the precise needs of the body. So universally is thus true 
that it needs no demonstration. Analogy, therefore, would 
make it probable that the same would be true of live stock 
which feed upon the fruits of the earth. The table which 
furnishes the greatest variety of suitable food products and 
properly prepared, is the table that is most frequented in 
the public house. Likewise, the manger that is best fur- 
nished with variety in suitable foods is the one that will 
best effect the ends sought from feeding. The necessity 
for variety, however, is much influenced by the character 
of the food, as is shown later. 

That animals tire of some foods much more quickly 
than they do of others is certainly true. Of the grains, for 
instance, they tire much more quickly of rye and barley 
when these are fed as the exclusive grain ration than of 
oats and corn. Of the by-products, sheep tire more quickly 
of wheat bran than of wheat screenings and swine tire 
more quickly of bran than of middlings. Corn and oats 
may be fed with a relish for a longer period probably than 
any other grain. Legumes also, as clover, alfalfa and cow- 
peas may be fed for long periods without the relish for 
them growing materially less. Animals never lose the rel- 
ish for good grass with ample succulence, but they do for 
corn fodder and sorghum, months after these have been 
harvested. 

Every practical feeder of extended experience has 
found that suitable variety in foods is helpful to him in his 
work. He has found this true especially in times of feeding 
the same foods for prolonged periods, even when the ani- 
mals were not subjected to high pressure feeding. But when 
fed imder pressure the necessity for variety and the advan- 
tage from the same is much increased. This is especially 
true of animals that are being- pushed for the block. The 



THE SELECTION OF FOODS 59 

appetite gets cloyed and when such indications appear, they 
may be dispelled for a time at least by substituting another 
food factor for one of those fed, or by adding it to the 
ration without increasing the amount fed. Shepherds and 
herdsmen who grow and fit animals for exhibition resort 
to such methods from time to time to promote increase. 

The reasons why a change in foods thus promotes 
increase are not all understood. It would seem correct to 
say that they include the following : ( i ) The change may 
meet the needs of the system more perfectly by supplying 
nutrients that may be lacking in some degree; (2) the 
change may lead to some chemical action that is beneficial 
to digestion, and (3) the influence on appetite frequently 
leads to increased consumption of food. But it should be 
remembered that all changes are not beneficial. 

Value in foods. — That the value of foods is influenced 
by the nutrients which they contain is so evident that it 
needs no demonstration. But to take those nutrients as 
the true measure of their value would be a great mistake 
as has already been shown. It is a mistake, however, of 
too frequent occurrence. 

That the condition of the nutrients exercises a potent 
influence on the value of foods is equally clear. Food 
that is not digestible cannot nourish the system, although 
in some instances it has a mission in furnishing bulk. The 
percentage of the nutrients that go to sustain life and main- 
tain production, is that proportion of the same which is 
digestible. This varies greatly in plants of dififerent varie- 
ties and in the same plants at dififerent stages of growth. 
Only 21 per cent for instance of the protein in rye straw 
is digestible, whereas 62 per cent of the protein in clover 
hay is digestible. Relative digestibility, therefore, in the 
value of foods is worthy of the most careful consideration 
on the part of feeders. 

Suitability for the purpose for which foods are fed 
cannot be given too much consideration. Some foods may 
be used with the greatest profit in feeding certain classes of 



60 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

animals, while they are wholly unsuited to other classes of 
the same. Such, for instance, is cottonseed meal. It is one 
of the very best concentrates that can be fed to beef or 
dairy cattle, and one of the worst that can be fed to swine. 
In fact, with the latter it seems to act like slow poison. 
Field roots make a grand food for growing cattle and sheep, 
but in large quantities they would prove too laxative for 
horses. Oats are unquestionably the best concentrate that 
can be fed to horses, but they are quite unsuited to the 
digestion of young swine. Coarse fodders may answer quite 
well for store cattle somewhat advanced in age, whereas 
they would be quite unsuitable for calves if fed equally 
coarse to them. The successful feeder must, therefore, 
give careful heed to the adaptation of foods for the needs 
of the animals to which they are fed. 

The influence which foods exert on development and 
production must also be carefully studied by those who are 
to feed them in the most profitable manner. One food is 
suited to development during the milk period, but is not 
so well suited to the same at a later period, if indeed at all 
suited for such feeding. Flax fed as gruel furnishes such a 
food. While exactly adapted to the needs of the calf fed 
on skim milk, it would be out of all proportion costly for 
mature animals. Oats are admirably adapted to the needs 
of the young calf, and because of their excellence for such 
feeding and the relatively small amount required, they may 
in all instances virtually be thus fed with a profit. For such 
feeding they are much more suitable than corn. But when 
animals are more mature and are being made ready for the 
block, while oats if not too costly may form part of the 
ration, a much larger proportion of it should be corn. Field 
roots also are excellently adapted to feeding calves and 
young stock, because of their excellence in promoting 
growth of muscle and bone, but they would be too costly 
to feed in large quantities to cattle that are being fattened, 
nor would they be so suitable for producing fat as some 
other foods. 



THE SELECTION OF FOODS 6l 

Feed corn only as the concentrate to horses and over- 
much fat will be produced at the expense of energy. Feed 
bran to young pigs before and after weaning, and they will 
not thrive upon it, but feed the same in large proportion 
to a brood sow and it will help to nourish her pigs in the 
milk that it will furnish. Feed all bran as the concentrate 
to a milch cow and it will greatly stimulate the milk flow, 
but at the expense of flesh. Feed only corn and the cow will 
gain flesh at the expense of milk. Feed both bran and corn 
and the result will be a fair amount of milk with no loss 
of flesh. 

The manurial value of some foods is so great, that in 
some instances and under some conditions, it approximates 
more or less the value of the same for feeding. Such are 
bran, oil cake and cottonseed meal. The relation of these 
values will depend, first, on the price of the foods ; second, 
on the cost of commercial fertilizers ; and third, on the 
necessity for using them. The lower the cost of the food, 
the dearer the cost of the commercial fertilizer and the 
greater the necessity for applying the added fertilizer, the 
more nearly will the manurial value of the food approximate 
the feeding value. In feeding concentrated foods and in 
some instances fodders, especially legumes, this question is 
sufficiently important to merit the most careful considera- 
tion when selecting or providing them. 



CHAPTER IV. 
PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN DEVELOPMENT 

The principles that govern development in animals 
include the following: (i) Possible development is usu- 
ally less rapid as the birth period is receded from; (2) 
more food is called for to make development with advancing 
age; (3) periods of stagnation during development lessen 
capacity for future development; (4) when animals that 
are being fattened reach that stage of high finish, termed 
ripeness, further increase is made at a loss; (5) the rela- 
tion between the character of the development and the foods 
used in making it is close and intimate; (6) undue energy 
expended or undue exposure incurred by animals when tak- 
ing food results in relatively lessened increase in flesh or 
wool, and in a lessened production of milk; (7) relative 
production gradually decreases after animals have reached 
the meridian of vigor; (8) development inferior in char- 
acter will sometimes occur, howsoever perfect the breeding 
and management may be and (9) development in what 
may be termed equilibrium is most conducive to continued 
well doing in the animals of a stud, herd or flock. Each of 
these principles has the strength of inexorable law. 

Development and decrease. — That possible develop- 
ment is usually less rapid as the birth period is receded 
from arises, first, from the changing character of the diges- 
tion ; second, from the changing character of the foods fed, 
and third, from the gradual increase called for in the food 
of maintenance from birth to maturity. 

The digestive and assimilative processes are most 
active at birth, and become gradually less so, until finally 
these become unable longer to sustain life. It is not the 
amount of food consumed which sustains labor or furnishes 
tissue to promote growth, but rather the amount digested 

62 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMALS 63 

and more especially the amount assimilated in the processes 
of digestion. This is clearly evidenced in the fact that during 
the finishing process two animals will consume practically 
the same amount of food and yet one will make about twice 
as much increase as the other. 

The foods fed usually change from the more to the 
less concentrated forms, as with advancing age, the capac- 
ity to digest more relative bulk continually increases. 
These, as a rule, if not indeed always, have more of crude 
fibre in them, hence the energy required to digest such 
foods is more than is required to digest the former in pro- 
portion to the nutriment obtained. More digestive energy 
is used for instance in obtaining a given amount of nutri- 
ment from timothy hay than in obtaining the same from 
whole milk, and more energy is used in obtaining the 
nutriment from ripe timothy hay than in obtaining it from 
timothy cut at the blossoming stage. 

The food of maintenance gradually increases with ad- 
vancing age. This arises first, from the increased demand 
on nutrition to sustain the enlarging frame, to maintain 
animal heat in the larger body surface exposed, and to 
drive properly the machinery of digestion with the increase 
in performance put upon it, and to repair the greater waste 
of tissue relatively because of increase in the fleshy domain 
where waste occurs. After the meridian of growth has 
been attained, the decrease in the activity of assimilation 
and the increase in the waste of tissue call for increasing 
quantities of food to sustain the animal, hence so much less 
is left for production. 

This lazv of development is fittingly illustrated in the 
gains made by calves, lambs and foals at different stages 
of growth. There is no real difficulty in securing two 
pounds of gain daily during the first year of the life of a 
calf, not including the weight at birth. It is more difficult 
to secure an average daily gain in the same animal of i;V4 
pounds the second year, and of i^ pounds the third year. 
A lamb well nourished may be made to gain from say, 0.6 



64 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

to 0.9 pounds per day the first month, exclusive of the 
birth weight. The second month 0.5 pounds would be a 
good gain and even during the fattening period at from 
six to nine months 0.3 pounds of increase is considered an 
excellent daily gain. Well nourished foals of the draft type 
may be made to increase 2 to 3 pounds per day during 
the first month, but with them also relative increase becomes 
slower as they grow older. 

Szviiic furnish an exception to this rule. During the 
nursing period, it is scarcely possible to secure a poimd of 
increase in the young pigs daily. Subsequently, when from 
three to four months old, they may be made to gain i pound 
a day and even more, but after a time with them also pos- 
sible increase lessens. Just why possible gains in swine are 
greater subsequent to the weaning period is not absolutely 
clear. It is possible that it may arise from the inability of 
the animal to take enough food into its relatively small 
stomach to make such gains possible. 

Development and more food. — That more food is 
called for to make equal increase as age advances will be 
readily apparent when it is called to mind first, that the food 
of maintenance increases relatively as age advances (see 
page 63), and second, that as stated above, the digestive 
processes grow less and less active with advancing age. 

As has been stated, the food of maintenance increases 
with advancing age. It is self-evident that a cattle beast 
at the age of three years will take more food to drive the 
machinery of digestion than the same at three months. It 
is also self-evident, that if, as has been previously 
stated and which is certainly true (see page 62), the diges- 
tive processes grow less active and the waste of tissue be- 
comes greater with advancing age, that more food relatively 
will be required to make increase as the animal grows 
older. A point will at length be reached in development 
beyond which increase cannot be made in flesh and weight, 
and yet a large amount of food must needs be fed daily in 
order to maintain weight, hence the folly of keeping such 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMALS 65 

animals longer for meat production, after they have reached 
a maximum development. Even with immature animals, a 
point may be reached beyond which development may be 
so slow as to render further feeding unprofitable. 

But it does not follow that because more food nu- 
trients are required to make a pound of increase as the 
birth period is receded from, such increase necessarily en- 
tails greater cost while making it. Frequently it does not. 
The cost of such production is largely determined by the 
relative cost of the foods used in making it, hence, even 
though 25 per cent more increase should be obtained the 
first year in the life of a cattle beast than is obtained the sec- 
ond year, and though less food nutrients should be used 
in making it, the relative cost of increase the second year 
may be less relatively than the first year. This will cer- 
tainly be true if the animal has been fed chiefly on whole 
milk and concentrated foods the first year, and chiefly on 
pasture and cheap roughage the second year. 

This difiference in the relative cost of the foods fed in 
making meat especially, exerts a far reaching influence on 
profits. It explains why, under intensive conditions of 
farming where foods are high priced, cows which only 
furnish milk for their calves yield little or no profit, while 
a substantial profit may be thus produced by them when 
maintained under extensive conditions. It explains why 
under some conditions, the quickest maturity attainable is 
not always the most profitable, and it explains why it may 
be more profitable in the end under some conditions to 
winter cattle and other animals on a comparatively unnu- 
tritious diet, in order to secure subsequent growth on pas- 
tures that are very cheap or entirely free. 

Development and capacity. — That periods of stagna- 
tion in growth during development tend to lessen future 
possible development has been proved by observation and 
experience in unnumbered instances. This loss in capacity 
may arise from a deficiency in the quantity of suitable food 
fed, from feeding unsuitable food, from excessive feeding 



66 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

of foods that may or may not be suitable and in balance, or 
from exposure, or from unsuitable feeding combined with 
undue exposure. 

A calf may be fed food that is just right in its propor- 
tionate constituents, but if the quantity fed is quite below the 
needs of the animal, there must, of course, be a corre- 
sponding deficiency in growth. A habit of digestion will 
thus be formed which unfits the stomach and digestive 
apparatus for digesting large quantities of food to the best 
possible advantage. 

If the foods fed are unsuitable, the loss in capacity 
for development will be greater, and if they are deficient 
in quantity, the evil is intensified. Thus it is, that if a 
young calf is fed for a prolonged period on whole milk, 
but insufficient in supply, it will be lean and lack growth, 
but still may retain shapes that are reasonably correct. 
The relative proportion of bone may be unduly large and 
the hair may be more than normal in quantity, the outcome 
probably in both instances of a provision of nature thus 
to give strength to the ill-covered framework and to pro- 
vide warmth for it. Should the food be in ill balance, de- 
velopment will be further arrested. Should it be unsuited 
to the age of the animal, as when young calves are forced 
to live largely on grass, unbalanced as well as insufficient 
development follows. There is undue distension of the 
stomach at too early an age, resulting in an excess of 
paunch, which the animal retains through life. 

Should the animal be correctly fed, but unduly ex- 
posed, development will be proportionately arrested. Should 
it be fed food under such conditions, correct in balance, 
but deficient in quantity, the loss in development will be 
correspondingly more. But if in addition, the food is 
unbalanced and not adapted to the age of the animal, then 
development is still more arrested, and in conjunction 
therewith comes ill-balanced development, that is, undue 
development of some parts in proportion to development 
in other parts. A striking illustration is furnished by whey 



THE DKVELOrMENT OF ANIMALS 67 

fed calves, reared under conditions of undue exposure. Rela- 
tively they have an excessive amount of bone and paunch, 
and hair unduly long and staring. The machinery of diges- 
tion has not only been weakened, but it has become un- 
balanced, and never again can it produce entire correctness 
of development or a complete sufficiency of the same. 

This loss in capacity for correct development is pro- 
portionate not only to the intensity of the causes which pro- 
duce it, but it is intensified by the proportionate nearness 
to or remoteness from the birth period at which it occurs. 
Suppose, for instance, development in one case is arrested 
and distorted while the animal is being fed milk, and sup- 
pose in another case that the hindrance to correct develop- 
ment does not occur until the animal is a yearling, the loss 
in capacity for future development will be much less in the 
second instance than in the first, for the reason that correct 
habit in digestion had been duly formed in the second 
instance, wiiile in the first it had been given incorrect bias 
during the formative period. 

The same thing will happen should the animals be over- 
fed, that is. should they be given an excessive amount of 
concentrated foods. Development will not only be checked 
for the time being, but the capacity for future development 
will also be lessened. This law or principle of develop- 
ment will be operative, not only during the period of 
development, but even subsequently to the maturing period. 
But the evils resulting from such over-feeding are more 
disastrous relatively the nearer that they occur to the 
birth period. 

Some foods cannot be fed to excess, in the sense that 
feeding them in unlimited quantities will derange digestion. 
Such, for instance, are grass and good clover hav. Of 
course it would be possible to require the animal to take 
so much of these as to interfere with highest possible per- 
formance in certain directions. To illustrate : An animal 
may be required to consume so large a proportion of grass 
when it is being fitted for exhibition, as to make impossible 



68 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

such increase for the time being as would result from 
feeding grass and a larger proportion of concentrated grain 
foods. Similarly, the production of a dairy cow will be 
less when fed on good clover hay alone, than when fed on 
clover hay and a certain allowance of suitable concentrated 
foods, but neither the grass sufficiently advanced m growth 
nor the clover hay will derange digestion in bovines how- 
soever liberally fed. 

It is not so, however, with concentrated foods. At a 
comparatively early age, in fact but a few months from 
the birth period, a calf will partake of rye, barley or corn 
meal so freely if allowed to, that digestion becomes de- 
ranged. A strain is put on its machinery which it cannot 
bear, and it becomes impaired to the extent of the excess 
of the ill balance in the food nutrients given. Thus it is, 
that young animals being fitted for show purposes fre- 
quently break down under the heavy tax put upon their 
digestive capacity, and so have to be laid asicfe. Many an 
animal possessed of the requisites that would have enabled 
it to win champion honors with suitable feeding, has thus 
been forever unfitted for entering the show ring. 

The hazard from feeding concentrated foods to excess 
with young animals varies with the kind of the concentrate 
and with the age at which it is fed. The proneness of ani- 
mals to consume concentrated foods in excess when the 
opportunity is present would seem to increase with ad- 
vancing age. Calves quite young are not much liable to 
partake of such foods greatly in excess of what will benefit 
them, but it is entirely different a few months later. Of 
all the concentrated grain foods fed, oats is the safest by 
far for horses, mules, cattle and sheep, when fed in un- 
measured quantities. This is owing to the relatively happy 
balance between the nutrients and to the suitable bulk rela- 
tion that exists between the hull and kernel portion of this 
grain. Other grain foods, such as corn, rye, and barley 
fed thus freely, puts a tax upon the digestive processes 
which they are unable to bear, gives the assimilative powers 



TflE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMALS 69 

more material than they can adjust to the needs of the ani- 
mals, and puts an impossible task upon the secretions. The 
whole system as it were becomes clogged, and in propor- 
tion as it does the machinery of digestion suffers beyond 
the possibility of absolute recovery. 

With matured animals the same law of principle is 
operative, both with regard to increase and production. 
Feed the grown animal in the feed lot excessively on rich 
concentrated grain foods, and it gets "off feed." This 
means that the digestive functions have been overtaxed and 
must have rest. Nature to provide this causes the appetite 
to fail. Prompt withholding of the grain portion of the 
ration may bring about measurable restoration, but the ani- 
mal will not again bear being thus fed so heavily during 
the finishing period. Even should recovery be almost com- 
plete, the cost of maintenance has been incurred meanwhile, 
with little or no advance In the weight of the annual. 

Once overtax the digestion of a cow in milk, by thus 
overfeeding her, and similar results follow. Production 
lessens and in proportion to the overstrain put upon the 
digestive machinery, so to speak, of the cow, even though 
there should be no sudden break down in the machinery 
of digestion, there may be a weakening so gradual as to 
be imperceptible. This may be so gradual as to cover a 
period of several years. Its presence may only be discern- 
ible in lessened capacity for milk production, notwithstand- 
ing the consumption of the same quantities of food as were 
consumed when the production was greater. Thus it is 
that by high pressure feeding of concentrates, the capacity 
of a cow may be so reduced as to materially lessen the 
profit that would otherwise be obtained from her. It may 
also materially shorten the period of possible profitable 
usefulness. 

It will be readily apparent that the loss thus recurring 
from such underfeeding or overfeeding, will be far more 



70 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

serious in breeding than in feeding animals, more particu- 
larly during the period of finishing. With animals, there- 
fore, that are being reared or kept for breeding, it is doubly 
important that these mistakes shall be avoided. 

Development and ripeness. — When animals approach 
the ripening period, the capacity to make gains gradually 
decreases, and if kept up for a period sufficiently long, will 
at length cease altogether. Notwithstanding, the consump- 
tion of food will be practically the same. The feeder who 
does not watch this point closely may thus unconsciously 
allow what would have resulted in substantial profit, had 
the animals been sold at the opportune time, to be greatly 
reduced if not indeed turned into positive loss. 

Ripeness in meat making may be defined as that com- 
pleteness of finish which puts animals in the best condition 
to meet the needs of the market, just as ripeness in the 
carcass after it is slaughtered means that condition of 
increase in tenderness of muscle which best meets the taste 
of the consumer. Fruit is ripe when it has reached the 
maximum of fitness for the use that is to be made of it. 
Usually, in meat production, ripeness means the same as 
completed fattening. This may be attained at almost any 
stage of development in some types of animals, though not 
in all, hence it is not necessarily synonymous with com- 
pleted maturity. 

Before maturity it can be most readily attained in ani- 
mals of compact build and of marked meat-making ten- 
dencies through natural inheritance. Cattle of the pro- 
nounced dairy types cannot be so effectively ripened at an 
early age as cattle of the pronounced beef types and the 
same is true of bacon swine as compared with the small 
breeds, such as the Essex and Small Yorkshire. 

The stage of development at which ripeness may be 
reached is dependent on the character of the foods fed, the 
manner of feeding them and the forced character of the 
feeding. P'oods highly carbonaceous hasten such ripening. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMALS 7I 

and those highly nitrogenous prolong and defer the ripen- 
ing period. Early ripening is accelerated by so preparing 
foods that the least possible amount of energy is used in 
masticating and digesting them, as when, for instance, ce- 
reals are ground rather than fed whole. It is likewise has- 
tened by feeding so forced, that after a time relative in- 
crease lessens materially and finally ceases altogether, it 
may be at a period considerably in advance of the normal 
period of maturity for that particular class of animals. 
But ripeness also applies to animals that are being fattened 
subsequent to the maturing period, in which case it means 
that stage of finish in which profitable gains cease. 

Ttiree methods may be adopted in determining ripe- 
ness : ( I ) It may be ascertained through the medium 
of the eye; (2) the hand and (3) the weigh scale. In 
some instances judgment must be determined by the first 
medium, as when range cattle are sorted out for shipment 
to the block. In other instances the eye and hand may both 
be used, as when animals are fed in the stall. In yet other 
instances, all three mediums may be resorted to when weigh 
scales are easily accessible. 

The indications of ripeness apparent to the eye include : 
(i) That plumpness and fulness of form in cattle which 
covers well the ribs and angular points; (2) fulness under- 
neath the throat in both sexes, and in the purse of steers ; 
(3) lateral movement back and forth over the shoulder 
and bunching of the flesh at the hind flank when the ani- 
mal walks; and (4) measured and deliberate rather than 
qujck locomotion. These indications are never all present 
in the same animal unless it has been brought to a high 
condition of finish. With sheep the indications would be 
much the same, but when covered with a fleece only that 
last mentioned is apparent. With swine the most impor- 
tant indications include fulness, completeness and massive- 
ness of covering over the body, and especially in the lard 



y2. FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

types sluggish locomotion. With bacon types so much fin- 
ish would be excessive. The degree of the same can only 
be obtained from experience. 

The indications that come through touch in cattle are 
found : ( i ) In the depth and mellowness of the fatty 
covering over the pin bones, and (2) in the relative firm- 
ness of the muscles, under gentle pressure of the finger 
tips. The pin bones do not become thus covered unless the 
animal has reached an advanced stage of fattening. The 
degree of the firmness of flesh in the muscles is influenced 
by maturity in the animal, being of course greater under 
equal degrees of finish with advancing age. This firmness 
is by no means the same as hardness of flesh in the poor 
feeding animal, and it does not mean that there shall be any 
want of vibrating power in the skin over the ribs under 
gentle lateral pressure of the open hand, such as is found 
in animals that feed slowly. With cattle in the less ad- 
vanced stages of fattening, the muscles are soft and yield 
more under gentle pressure than those in the ripe animal. 
This increasing firmness of muscle is caused by the firming 
of the fatty tissue within and over the muscles, and it is 
best ascertained on those parts of the body most deeply 
covered with muscle. With sheep, these indications are 
ascertained in much the same way as with cattle, with the 
difference, that more frequently the handling is confined 
to the pin bones and the fatty tissue around the tail heail. 
The fleece, when present, interferes somewhat with exami- 
nation through light pressure over the muscles. Swine are 
seldom handled in order to judge of ripeness, but firmness 
of flesh may be ascertained with them also by hand pressure. 

There are instances, however, in which firmness of flesh 
will not be present, even though the animal has practically 
ceased to make increase in flesh, as when it has been fat- 
tened on food possessed of an excessive amount of oil. Such, 
for instance, is the flesh of swine fattened on beechnuts 
and peanuts. It is indicated by excessive softness of the 
muscles. Such a condition of flesh is improved by feeding 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMALS 73 

the animal for a longer period on food less rich in fat. 
Furthermore, it will be apparent that proficiency in judging 
of such indications can only be obtained through expe- 
rience. 

The weigh scale properly used is a sure indication of 
ripeness in animals that are being fattened on suitable foods. 
If, when weighed occasionally, as for instance every two 
weeks, at an advanced stage of the fattening process, they 
show little or no gain, the feeding at the same time being 
correct, it is so far an indication that they are ripe. Care 
should be taken, however, to weigh from time to time, under 
the same conditions, or the weights obtained may mislead. 

The loss resulting from continuing to feed animals that 
are ripe is influenced by the age, and probably to a greater 
extent by the price of foods. The more mature the animal, 
the slower will be the gains subsequently to the ripening 
of the animal. A yearling steer may be ripe enough to 
meet the conditions of the market, and yet be capable of 
making considerable increase subsequently, whereas a ma- 
ture steer thus ripened would make but little increase and 
under some conditions, none at all. The influence of food 
prices is so apparent as to need no discussion. 

The importance of prompt marketing when the animals 
are ripe is apparent from sundry tests made by certain of 
the agricultural experiment stations. During 90 days in 
feeding swine at the Ontario station in 1891. under the 
direction of the author, pork was made at a cost of $4.65 per 
100 pounds live weight. During the 47 days of subsequent 
feeding on the same kinds of food, the cost was $14.93 per 
100 pounds. During five months' feeding of steers at the 
Nebraska station in 1905, the average daily gain made was 
2 pounds. The following month it fell to ii/. pounds. It 
may be prudent, nevertheless, to hold over finished ani- 
mals for a period of relatively short duration when the con- 
dition of the market has become unsettled, as from excess 
in supplies or from some other cause. 



74 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Development and food. — The character of the develop- 
ment secured is influenced by inheritance, environment and 
nutrition. The most potent of these is nutrition, which is 
another way of saying that the most potent influence in 
securing development of a certain kind, is the character of 
the food used in making it: The food consumed influences 

( 1 ) meat production in regard to quantity and quality ; 

(2) milk production with reference to quantity and quality; 

(3) the quantity and character of bone; (4) the char- 
acter and abundance of the coat, and (5) the production of 
energy. The relation between equilibrium or balance in the 
development secured and equilibrium in the foods used in 
making it, is of the closest character, as has already been 
shown (see page 43). 

The bearing of food upon the production of flesh with 
reference to quantity is so self-evident that it is scarcely 
necessary to discuss it. Illustrations are readily found in 
the contrast between the development of the calf that is 
suckled by its own dam and the calf fed on whey, also in the 
contrast between the yearling steer wintered only on straw 
and the same animal the following summer, when grazed 
upon plentiful pastures. The largest production will be 
obtained from foods which contain the largest amount of 
nutriment possessed of the most suitable digestibility and 
fed with due reference to balance in the food constituents 
and also bulk requirements or the opposite. 

Quality in meat viewed from the standpoint of the 
table, has reference to fibre or grain, tenderness or tough- 
ness, proportion of fat to lean, and the character of the fat 
and the flavor. All these unless the last, are influenced by 
inheritance and to some extent by exercise, age and envi- 
ronment, but less so in all or in nearly all these respects 
than they are influenced by food. 

The fibre, composing the muscle or lean portion in 
meat is sometimes large and coarse, in other instances, it is 
fine. The former is present to a much greater extent in 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMALS 75 

large than in small breeds. The nature of the food pro- 
vided, more than any other influence, accounts for the differ- 
ence in size referred to. The luxuriant and somewhat 
coarse grasses of Lincolnshire, England, have produced the 
largest breed of sheep in the world. The fine, short grasses 
of the Downs in proximity to the English channel, have 
produced one of the smallest breeds, the Southdown. The 
fibre or grain of the meat in the Southdown is much finer 
than in the Lincoln. Similarly coarse fodders will produce 
coarser fibre than fine fodders. Thus, if a long enough time 
were given, the Southdown could, in the fibre of its meat, 
be transformed into a Lincoln and vice versa. Of course, 
fineness of fibre enhances the quality of meat. 

The tenderness or toughness of meat is markedly in- 
fluenced by age, but it is also greatly influenced by the 
food and the manner of feeding it. Succulence in food is 
one of the most potent influences in producing tenderness 
and also juiciness in meat. Lamb grown and finished on 
such foods as succulent bluegrass and rape, will furnish 
meat more tender and juicy than lamb grown on the less 
succulent grasses of the range. Beef made from feeding 
corn ensilage or field roots freely to cattle that are being 
fattened is more tender and juicy than that made from 
feeding dry food only. Similarly the meat of aged animals 
is more tender when they have been brought up quickly 
from a low to a high condition of flesh than when the feed- 
ing period is slower and more prolonged, owing probably to 
the short period given to the newly formed tissue to firm 
and harden as it otherwise would. 

The tenderness of meat is much influenced by the pro- 
portion of the fat to the lean, and by the way in which it 
is distributed. There is a constant relation between lean- 
ness and toughness and high condition and tenderness and 
juiciness. Even the lean of a fat carcass will be more 
tender than the lean of a lean carcass, and it will be much 
more juicy. But both tenderness and juiciness in meat 
are more influenced by the manner in which the fat is 



76 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

distributed than by the amount of it present. In some 
instances the fat is laid on in great measure externally and 
internally. In other instances, it is more distributed through 
the lean, sometimes in the form of layers of fat and lean 
alternating, and sometimes in the flecking of the lean with 
little pockets as it were of fat. Inheritance exercises some 
influence over the manner in which fat is distributed in 
the carcass, and the same is true of exercise, but it is prob- 
ably correct to say that neither influence is so potent as 
food in producing the results desired. Young ani- 
mals so fed, that they are always in a good condition of 
thrift and flesh, but without excess of fatness, will have a 
more perfect distribution of fat and lean than if allowed 
to lose flesh for a period more or less prolonged and are 
then fleshed up quickly. The most perfect distribution of 
fat and lean can, of course, be obtained when the three 
modifying influences ; viz., inheritance, exercise and bal- 
anced foods are fed in due quantity. The side of the bacon 
pig furnishes a good illustration of the deposition of fat 
and lean in layers, and the loin of an Aberdeen-Angus, an 
illustration of lean flecked with fat. 

That the flavor of meat is influenced more or less by 
food is shown : ( i ) In the excellent flavor of mutton 
grown upon mountains, caused by the variety and to some 
extent the aromatic character of the plants from which 
it is produced; (2) in the peculiar flavor of the meat of 
wild animals and in the difference of the flavors, owing 
largely to the difference in the foods selected by them, and 
(3) in the peculiar flavor, in a sense amounting to a taint, 
of the flesh of the 'sage hen of the western plains and 
of domestic animals which have fed much on pastures 
abounding in penny cress (Thlaspi arvensc.) 

The influence of food on increase in milk production 
is readily apparent: (i) When a change is made from 
a diet dry and without succulence as from fodder corn to 
corn ensilage, from dry winter foods to succulent pastures, 
or when dry pastures abundant in the quantity of the grass 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMALS JJ 

furnished are supplemented by such food as green corn or 
rape, and (2j, by changing from a ration essentially car- 
bonaceous to one nitrogenou5 in character, or sufficiently 
so to furnish food approximately in balance, such a change 
may be made by substituting clover or alfalfa hay for corn 
stover, or meal composed largely of wheat bran or gluten 
meal for corn meal. 

Quality in milk is also afifected by the food, first, with 
reference to the constituents which it contains, and second, 
with reference to its flavor. The first influence is so slow 
in its action as to be virtually imperceptible under normal 
conditions. To illustrate : Feed, under normal conditions, 
a Jersey cow whose milk is very rich in butter fat, food that 
will test practically the same, but it will be reduced in quan- 
tity. Reverse the process of feeding and it will still test 
practically the same, but will increase in quantity up to a 
certain limit. The quality of milk, therefore, viewed from 
the standpoint of direct influence of food upon its essential 
constituents, is not perceptibly influenced thereby. The 
percentage of butter fat and other constituents will be 
just the same, except the total quantity of these will be in- 
creased or decreased with such increase or decrease in the 
total milk product from a cow, within a given time, as may 
be brought about by the character of the food fed. 

The quality in milk, viewed from the standpoint of its 
analysis, is almost entirely a matter of transmission, and 
it is probably more a breed peculiarity than a matter of 
individual inheritance and yet the importance of individual 
inheritance is not to be under-estimated. The Channel 
island breeds are characterized by the production of milk 
only moderate in quantity, but rich in butter fat. The 
Holsteins on the other hand are characterized by the pro- 
duction of a large quantity of milk, and relatively low in 
butter fat. But these differences in the character of the 
milk are not due to inheritance and selection alone. They 
are due also to the action of food producing change so 
slowly as to be imperceptible, except when measured by 



/S FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

decades or even centuries. The short, rich grasses of the 
Channel islands have certainly exercised an influence on 
the richness which characterizes cows of that breed, and 
the more abundant and more succulent foods grown in 
Holland have also exercised an influence on the abundant 
milk flow which characterizes Holstein cows and the rela- 
tively low amount of butter fat found in the same. Would 
not the task of producing a Jersey in Holland and likewise 
a Holstein in Jersey have been difficult? 

But food may also influence the constituents of milk 
even perceptibly for a time under certain conditions. Ex- 
perience has shown that if a cow has been grown under 
conditions adverse to good development, and if she has 
been kept upon inferior food, and low in nutrition for a 
considerable time, it is possible in such an instance to secure 
perceptible increase in the percentage of butter fat in the 
milk. It is brought about probably by renovating the system 
of the cow, through the more or less prolonged feeding of 
nutritious and suitable food. Such increase, however, is not 
marked. 

Certain foods affect the flavor of milk adversely, even 
though eaten in limited quantity. Such are leeks {Allium 
tricoccum) , sometimes found in wild pasture, penny cress 
(Thlaspi arvensc), found sometimes in those that are tame, 
and the leaves of certain vegetables, as cabbage, fed in a 
state of partial decay. Other foods give the milk an un- 
desirable odor only when fed in too large quantities and 
too near the usual milking period. Such include rape, ru- 
tabaga and turnip tops and also rutabagas and turnips, con- 
centrated foods also, as brewers' grains for instance that 
have reached the borderland of putrefaction, will produce 
offensive odors in milk. 

A normal amount of development of bone in domestic 
animals can only be secured by feeding them on food suffi- 
ciently supplied with ash and protein, particularly the 
former, since these are nutrients required in building bone. 
Where these are insufficient in the food, the development 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMALS 79 

of bone will be below what is normal and likewise relative 
strength in the same. 

The relation between strength and cleanness of bone in 
horses and grasses grown on soils of limestone formation 
has long been noticed. The same may also be said of the 
relation between a corn diet and deficiency of bone develop- 
ment both in quantity and strength, in growing and fatten- 
ing swine, but more particularly during the growing period. 
It has been noticed that when a brood sow is fed exclusively 
on a corn diet during the period of gestation, the pigs are 
deficient in size at birth and have small bones. The corn 
does not furnish the dam with enough of the elements of 
bone making material. 

It has also been proved by experiment that swine fed 
on corn alone during the growing period have bone develop- 
ment inadequate in quantity and quality. This of course 
is adverse to large and robust development, since a small 
framework of bone and similar muscular development are 
more or less intimately associated. It has also been observed 
that swine reared chiefly on corn and fattened on the same 
go down on their limbs much sooner than those fed on 
foods which supply an ample amount of bone making 
material. It has furthermore been observed that sheep 
largely reared on alfalfa and red clover develop large 
frames covered by a corresponding amount of muscle. 

But increase in bone development beyond what is 
normal is not produced by feeding foods to an animal pos- 
sessed of more ash than is necessary for normal develop- 
ment. In other words an animal may be fed bone making 
materials much in excess of its needs, and yet the pro- 
duction of bone will stop at that point of development 
which is normal for the breed or at least which is normal 
for the individual as determined by inheritance. But in- 
crease in bone development may be attained beyond what is 
normal for the breed by feeding food relatively rich in the 
materials for making bone, aided by selection. In other 



80 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

words the normal standard of the bony framework may 
in this way be increased to a certain limit. 

It is also possible to exercise a far-reaching influence 
on the amount of bone in swine and other animals, where 
corn is fed to excess, simply by selection, as may be observed 
by the marked diflerence in the amount of bone possessed 
by herds of swine in the corn belt, and it is reasonable to 
suppose that the food fed to the dam during pregnancy 
does exert a material influence in determining the possible 
development of bone subsequently. When amply supplied 
with bone making materials in the food, it cannot be other- 
wise than that the whole bony framework will be larger 
in the young animals at birth than if there had been a 
deficiency of these, and that in consequence larger bone 
development will result at maturity than would be possible 
had the bony framework been opposite in character. This 
relation, however, is probably more general than specific, 
as animals small at birth do sometimes develop into large 
animals at maturity, but the opposite of this is more com- 
monly true. 

Development and waste energy. — Under some condi- 
tions of environment and management, acting independently 
or in conjunction, there is an undue drain upon the energies 
of the system as: (i) When searching for food; (2) in 
resisting the influences of exposure, and (3) in making 
up for the loss caused by disturbing influences from what- 
soever source these may come. All such expenditure of 
energy will result in loss in proportion to the extent to which 
it exists. In some, instances, it is loss of energy for pro- 
ducing labor; in others, it means retirded increase of flesh 
or actual loss of the same ; and in yet rthers, low or even 
reduced production in milk yields. 

Require a horse that is laboring to gather food from 
pastures in the one instance that are low in production or 
from rich pastures in the other but not allowed sufficient 
time to gather such food, and the capacity to furnish labor 
will be so far lessened. Require an animal to gather food 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMALS 8l 

on insufficient pastures and its development will be pro- 
portionately hindered. The same result will follow should 
the animal be able to secure a sufficient supply of food, but 
at an expenditure of energy which does not admit of ample 
time to rest sufficiently. The larger the animal that is sub- 
jected to such conditions, the greater will be the relative 
loss, owing to the correspondingly larger expenditure of 
energy in carrying the additional weight over the pastures. 
Beyond certain limits such requirement would result in an 
actual loss of flesh, even during the growing period. The 
effect upon milk production would be precisely similar. 

To keep animals in comfort, the heat within the body 
must be maintained up to a certain degree. The food con- 
sumed is the source of bodily heat. A certain amount of 
heat is given off continuously through the pores of the skin. 
Exposure to temperatures below what is normal for the 
animal, increases the loss of bodily heat in proportion as it 
is incurred, and just in that proportion wdl there be a drain 
upon the food consumed to furnish such heat. This will 
mean that just to that extent will its power to pro- 
duce be diverted. The influence on decreased milk 
production will be even greater than on flesh produc- 
tion, for the reason first, that the milk producer must 
also be possessed of a certain amount of flesh which must 
be maintained before effective milk production can follow; 
second, that milk producing animals are usually lower in 
flesh than other animals and, therefore, are so much less 
effectively equipped for resisting the influences of undue 
exposure; and third, the entire organization of the milk 
producer is more refined and, therefore, so far more delicate 
than that of the male animal and consequently in so far 
weaker is the resisting power referred to. The effect of 
such exposure will be similar in kind with reference to labor, 
though it may be less in degree. 

The accompaniments of low temperatures as wind, rain, 
snow and sleet, are an additional drain on bodily heat when 
they are .present, and under some conditions severely so. 



82 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Cold rain draws most severely on the bodily heat of ex- 
posed swine, because of the light hair covering and next 
in degree probably upon that of opened wooled sheep, since 
the fleece to some extent retains for a time a portion of the 
water within it. The influence upon cattle is still less, be- 
cause of the fine character of the hair covering and the 
thicker hide, and on those breeds with a long covering of 
hair and also a dense furring underneath, as in the Gallo- 
way, it is still less. In horses and mules it is least probably 
among domestic quadrupeds in the country, owing to the 
greater natural activity of the horse and mule. 

Cold wind acts powerfully in removing bodily heat. 
Sheep, for instance, may maintain a fine condition of thrift 
in one instance where protected from cold winds in winter, 
and in another instance completely fail to do so when much 
exposed to cold winds, and the same is true of other domes- 
tic animals. This difference will occur even though the 
temperatures judged by the thermometer should be practi- 
cally the same. The drain on bodily heat from the action 
of snow and sleet is most readily seen in the quickness with 
which young lambs and pigs succumb when exposed to it, 
and in the sudden and large reduction in milk yields of ani- 
mals so exposed. The influence of the extent of the drain 
upon bodily heat when these influences act in conjunction, 
is probably greatest in blizzards, such as occur occasionally 
on western ranges, when even strong animals so exposed not 
infrequently perish. 

'he different classes of animals as such, differ consid- 
eraoiy in the degree of their resisting power to the influences 
of low temperatures, owing more to the differences of the 
coat than to any other single influence. To temperatures 
low and without wind, sheep have probably the greatest 
resisting power and swine the least. Some breeds of cattle 
as such have greater resisting power than others, as for in- 
stance, the West Highland compared with the Jersey or 
Guernsey, The same is practically true of breeds of sheep, 
owing to a difference in the density of the wool and to its 



THE DEVELOi'iMKNT OF ANIMALS 83 

greater adherence at the outer ends of the wool fibres, be- 
cause of the abundance of the yolk or soil in the wool in 
conjunction with external influences such as dust. This 
more than anything else has given Merino sheep a foremost 
place in hardihood among the pure breeds of sheep, now 
found in America. 

While natural hardihood in animals is, under some 
conditions, an exceedingly valuable characteristic, under 
other conditions it is considerably less valuable relatively. 
Range conditions, where climate is austere, illustrate the 
former, and arable farms, where domestic animals may be 
protected from all undue exposure, the latter. How far 
natural hardihood is to be sought must be left to the judg- 
ment to determine. If the highest possible hardihood were 
possible of attainment without sacrificing producing power, 
then it should be sought, but observation and experience 
have shown that such is not the case. If on the other hand 
the highest possible production can be secured from breeding 
animals without inducing undue delicacy, then this should 
be sought. But, similarly, it has been shown that such is 
not the case. It may, therefore, be wise to sacrifice some- 
thing of hardihood for more production and vice versa. 
The breeder of domestic animals on the farm should guard 
carefully against seeking production to the extent of im- 
pairing constitutional vigor, as when dairy cows are too 
constantly housed in winter, brood sows are bred too young 
and too continuously, and males are used in service too 
young and excessively. 

The influence of food on the temperature of the body is 
marked, hence this fact should not be lost sight of when 
regulating the temperature of buildings. Foods carbonace- 
ous in character produce more heat than those that are 
nitrogenous. The amount of flesh carried at the time exerts 
an influence. The temperature of a stable, therefore, that 
would be quite suitable for a dairy cow in a somewhat low 
condition of flesh, because producing heavily would not be 
the same as for a steer laden with fat. So marked is the 



84 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

difference, that while the latter may lie down in comfort in 
an open shed, the former would shiver subjected to like con- 
ditions. 

Development and decadence. — In the life of all animals 
there is a time when possible production reaches a max- 
imum, after which it gradually decreases. That time is when 
they have reached the meridian of bodily vigor and capacity 
to produce, which does not always mean that period when 
bodily growth ceases, as is shown below. Decadence more 
or less gradual at once begins, howsoever perfect the man- 
agement may' be. The moment that such decadence begins, 
the profitableness of the animal begins to grow less, as pro- 
duction grows less with decrease in the food of maintenance. 

The immediate cause of such decadence is the changed 
and continuous changing character of the nutrition. Waste 
of tissue is more than the assimilative powers can repair 
and expended energy is more than the forces that generate 
energy make good. Later, the teeth begin to fail and when 
they do, digestion suffers proportionately, first from inability 
to take enough food, and second from inability to properly 
masticate what is eaten. 

The age at which such decadence begins varies with 
breeds. Usually the longer the time occupied in maturing, 
the more deferred is the beginning of decadence. It is also in- 
fluenced by excessive performance and insufficient nutrition. 
The over-worked horse, the cow whose digestive machinery 
has been driven at a high speed through heavy grain feeding 
and long continued, and the brood sow kept producing 
twice in the year, will all begin to decline at an earlier age 
than if the system in each instance had not been thus over- 
taxed. The meridian of vigor is reached when the animal 
has reached fullest maturity. This in one sense is reached 
when further increase in weight ceases, but in another sense 
it is not until the limit is reached of greatest possible pro- 
ducton. The latter comes later than the former. The farm 
horse may cease to increase in weight after the fourth year, 
and the same may be true of the dairy cow, and yet the labor 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMALS 85 

of the former may be and usually is worth more two or three 
years subsequently, and the same is true of milk production 
in the latter. With the former, use has hardened the mus- 
cles so that they can endure more than when maturity was 
attained, and habit in work has increased capacity for work. 
With the latter, habit has increased capacity for milk giving 
beyond what would have been possible when increase in 
bodily development ceased. 

The period of highest usefulness, therefore, viewed 
from the standpoint of production, including the results 
from breeding, covers a period of years beginning with 
maturity. With working horses this period may be said 
in a general way to extend from the age of four, to ten 
years. With dairy cows it ranges from about the age of 
three to eight years. With sheep, it extends from say two 
to six years of age, and with brood sows from say one 
to five years. This does not mean that animals should not 
be retained beyond the ages named, but that the most profit- 
able production is likely to occur between the ages named. 
It will usually be profitable to keep good producing animals 
longer than the period of highest production, especially 
when they are reared on the farm, as an offset to the cost 
of rearing up to the time when production began. It wdl 
pay to keep some animals longer than others, because of 
their relatively higher producing power. 

Much has been written, but not too much, as to the 
unwisdom of breeding from animals at too early an age. 
It is quite as important, nevertheless, that they shall not 
be bred from at too advanced an age, for physical powers 
considerably advanced in the decadent stage can no more 
be expected to produce animals of highest excellence than 
physical powers not yet perfected. While it is proper and 
commendable to retain for breeding, animals of marked pre- 
potency and high excellence as breeders for a longer period 
than those of average merit as breeders, a time comes when 



86 FliKUIXi; FARM AMMALS 

even they should not be retained for breeding. The com- 
mon saying that such animals should be retained for breed- 
ing as long as they are capable of breeding, is not quite true. 
Can any instances be cited in which animals that became not- 
ed performers were forgotten when decadence from age had 
become considerably advanced? The bearing of what has 
been said upon profitable feeding will be at once apparent. 

Development and inferiority. — Howsoever excellent 
the management of a stud, herd or flock may be, and how- 
soever skillful the breeding, some animals will be born into 
it with inferior development and also with capacity for 
development below the average of the breed. In some in- 
stances this happens in the case of animals from the same 
sire and dam which have previously produced specimens of 
great excellence. This is the outcome of the operation of 
that second law of breeding known as the law of variation. 

All the reasons for svich contrasts may never be fully 
• known, but doubtless they are prenatal. They may be 
influenced by the condition of the sire or dam, or both, at 
the time of mating, with reference to condition as to flesh, 
the food which has produced it, and the degree of vigor 
possessed. They may also be influenced by the food given 
to the dam during pregnancy as to quantity and quality, 
by the exercise given or withheld, and by the performance 
required in furnisliing labor or milk. That other influences 
are operative, however, is apparent from the fact that 
marked variations occur in the progeny of the same parents 
when all the conditions are as uniform as the breeder can 
make them. The assertion is safe, notwithstanding, thit 
the number of the instances in which such inferior produc- 
tion appears is few relatively in approximate proportion as 
the breeding and management are correct. 

The true destiny of such animals is the block and at an 
early age. If retained or sold for breeding, they are pretty 
certain to aid in transmitting inferiority. If grown for meat 
until maturity, the production will be less profitable than 
from animals of normal or superior excellence. But decision 



THE DEVELOPMENT (W ANIMALS 87 

with reference to their disposal should not be reached too 
soon, as animals of but little promise at birth change quickly 
for the better in some instances to a remarkable degree. 

In no other way can the standard of the herd be 
brought up to a high level, than by removing from it those 
inferior specimens when they appear. The breeders of 
pure-breds hesitate sometimes to send such specimens to the 
shambles, since they can ordinarily sell them above meat 
price, because of the pedigree which they possess. To sell 
them for such a use, however, is simply to take advantage of 
the ignorance of the purchaser. 

Development in equilibrium. — Equilibrium in develop- 
ment may be defined as steady, even and robust growth, 
from birth to maturity, with a view to accomplish in the 
highest degree the end for which the animal is reared. At 
no time is it excessive, and on the other hand at no time 
is it wanting. To accomplish the first calls for the exercise 
of sound judgment. To prevent the second demands thj 
most constant watchfulness as well as forethought. Ani- 
mals thus reared w^ill best fulfill the end for which they 
have been reared, and will longest remain productive under 
continued good management. 

This does not mean that animals should not be grown 
for a single and specific purpose, but it does mean that in 
growing them, the efifort to accomplish that purpose shall 
not be carried so far as to reduce vigor in the animal 
beyond what is necessary to accomplish that end in the 
highest degree. It is easily possible to secure form for 
free and easy action in the running horse so extreme that 
his staying powers will be reduced. Dairy form in the milk 
pioducer may become so extreme that stamina is so reduced 
that it hinders high performance, and the meat making 
form in the cow may be pushed to the extent of lowering 
breeding qualities. These results are the outcome of the 
law of correllation which makes increase in a marked de- 
gree in one direction to be followed by suppression in an- 
other. The more extreme the increase, the more markeil 



<50 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

the depression. The individual who seeks extreme increase 
in one direction cannot afford to ignore the ever-present 
influence of this law or his efforts will ultimately end in 
failure. 

The most profitable animal is the one that produces 
best for the longest period in proportion to the food fed, 
and that has the power of transmitting like production to 
the progeny. Such a combination of qualities is never found 
in the animal that has not been developed in equilibrium. 
Grow a meat-making animal for showing at an early age 
and its breeding powers are lowered. Require excessive 
service in a young male and his possible development is 
lowered. Feed a meat-making animal a low diet in early life 
and its meat-making powers are lowered. 

Equilibrium in development has a far higher signifi- 
cance in relation to animals grown for breeding and pro- 
duction that will cover a term of years, than when grown 
simply for the block. With the latter, the feeding term 
is short, with the former it covers years. No great loss 
may occur from over-developing a calf at the age of one 
year, but it would be entirely different if a breeding ani- 
mal were so over-developed at that age, that its prospective 
usefulness was permanently lowered. 

Equilibrium in development is the highest attainment 
of the breeder's art. The man in whose herd are a score 
of really good animals and no culls, stands on a higher 
plane than the man who has some prize winners and a 
number of only ordinary animals in the same. The man 
whose animals are all good performers has accomplished 
more than the man who has some great performers and 
some inferior, notwithstanding that the latter may shine 
before the public while the former may be unknown to th? 
same. 



CHAPTER V. 

PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN HABIT IN DIGES- 
TION AND ASSIMILATION. 

Digestion means the preparing of foods for being re- 
sorbed into the system. .Assimilation is the process of re- 
sorbing them when thus prepared. The two processes 
though closely related are distinct and yet both are fre- 
quently included in the term digestion. Certain principles 
govern both processes which have the strength of law. Con- 
sequently they cannot be ignored by the stockman without 
paying a proportionate penalty. In its essence, habit in 
digestion and assimilation is the outcome of repetition con- 
tinued long in one direction in a certain line. When the 
repetition continues through a number of generations, it 
becomes a habit of the system so fixed that it is transmitted 
from generation to generation. The relation of habit to 
these is evidenced: (i) In the fact of its existence; (2) 
in the influences which flow from it; (3) in the modifica- 
tions through food, and treatment of which it is susceptible, 
and (4) in the greater ease or difiiculty found in modifying 
digestive and assimilative habits that have a bias in one or 
more directions. 

Habit, digestion and assimilation. — That habit exer- 
cises a powerful influence on digestion and food assimilation 
is abundantly evident. It is witnessed in the very dififerent 
results that come from feeding substantially the same foods 
to animals of the same species and also to animals of differ- 
ent species. Take, for instance, good hay and oats and 
feed them to beef and dairy cows, to mutton and wool-pro- 
ducing sheep, and to draft and standard-bred horses. Note 
the difference in the product. The meat-making animals in 
milk will turn the larsfer share of the food fed into muscle 



90 FEEDINC; FAR.M ANIMALS 

and fatty tissue, while the dairy breeds will turn the major 
portion into milk. The mutton breeds of sheep will turn 
the larger portion of the food into meat, but it is meat 
much unlike that made by beef cattle from the same feed. 
The wool breeds of sheep will turn a much larger percentage 
of the food into wool production and it will differ in 
many respects from the wool of other breeds of sheep. 
The same food fed to draft horses will be used largely in 
making or sustaining strong bone and muscle, and if fed to 
standard-bred horses in making or sustaining finer bone 
of high quality, and in generating energy or staying power. 
Thus it is that results so dift'erent, are produced from the 
same foods in that dark laboratory of the digestive and 
assimilative organs. The same is true of the lard and 
bacon types of swine. Both may be fed on the same kinds 
of food for a time at least, and the character of the pork 
will be very different indeed. 

It is very surprising that materials the same in kind 
should be thus transformed into products so different. The 
laboratory in which the transformation takes place is so 
filled with mystery that the search light of science has not 
been able to look into it very far. The diverse results from 
feeding foods essentially the same in kind have a parallel 
more or less close in the different character of the fruits 
of the earth, especially those of the same species which 
grow side by side in the same soil. 

But it must not be concluded that the strength of 
those habits is such that many of them at least may not be 
greatly modified. Nor would it be correct to conclude 
that food alone would not be able to make marked change 
if given time enough. In this way the bacon hog could be 
transformed into one of the lard type and vice versa 
through the agency of food alone. But changes thus 
brought about by natural causes may be hastened or re- 
tarded by selection and in other ways. 



DIGESTION AND ASSIMILATION 9I 

Influence of habit on digestion. — The inlluence of 
habit on the digestion of food, its assimilation and the de- 
position of its nutrients tinds iUustration : (i) in the 
character of the flesh produced by animals of the various 
breeds devoted to the making- of meat ; ( 2 ) in the (juan- 
tity and quahty of the milk, yield; (3) in the degree to 
which muscle and energy respectively are produced in 
horses ; and ( 4 ) in the degree to which flesh and wool re- 
spectively are produced in sheep. The difference in the 
extent to which these characteristics are held in breeds is 
marked and what is more surprising in individuals of the 
same breed. The beef breeds of cattle while being fattened 
intermix fat and lean in a considerable degree. They do 
not possess this quality in ecjual degree, nor do the animals 
of the same breed possess it equal in degree. But they do 
possess it in sufficient degree to furnish the breeder a 
reasonably sure guide when determining the breed that 
he shall grow to furnish meat of a specific character. While 
all meat-making breeds of cattle hive this characteristic, 
it would seem to be more marked in the Aberdeen- Angus 
breed than in some other meat-making breeds. Such de- 
position of fat and lean adds to the juiciness and tenderness 
of meat. The dairy breeds on the other hand are much 
prone to deposit the fat hiternally and otherwise less inter- 
mixed than in the beef breeds. Somewhat akin to this in 
principle but not exactly in kind, is tlie depositon of fat 
and lean in the bacon and other portions of the carcass in 
the lard and bacon types of swine. The differences in the 
texture of meat are also considerable, more especially when 
there is much difference in the size of the respective breeds 
which furnish the meat. The muscle in large breeds is more 
coarse in texture than in those that are small. 

The difference in the quality and quantity of milk 
produced by the average of the respective breeds is very 
marked. The Channel island breeds are proverbial for the 
richness 01 their milk, the Holland breeds for the quantity 
produced, and it would seem correct to say that the milking 



92 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Shorthorns and Ayrshires are characterized by producing; 
milk in a sort of equiUbrium in regard to quantity and 
quality. 

Equally marked is the difference in the degree of mus- 
cle produced in the different breeds of horses and in the 
difference in the degree of energy generated as manifested 
in a difference in speed and staying power. The only limit 
to the possible development of muscle on the one hand and 
the generation of energy on the other is that set by normal 
inheritance. It would not be correct to say that this limit 
may not be changed, but it cannot be changed suddenly. 

That one breed of sheep should possess wool on an 
average lO inches long and that another breed should pos- 
sess the same but 3 inches long, though similarly fed, is 
surprising. Nor is it any less surprising that the sheep 
with the short wool, as for instance the American Merino, 
should center the energies of digestion on the production 
of wool, whereas the sheep with the long wool, as, fur 
instance Lincoln, centers its energies rather on the produc- 
tion of mutton. 

It is not meant that these various habits are not 
influenced to some extent or at least some of them and 
very directly by the character of the food fed. It would 
be easy to feed freely to a draft horse food, as corn for 
instance, that would aid him in winning at a fair, whereas, 
if the same food were fed equally to a standard-bred it 
would cause him to lose in a speed contest. Likewise, fooil 
that is best for beef production is not that which is best for 
milk producion. Nor is it meant that these habits in diges- 
tion may not be so changed in time as to lose their dis- 
tinctive character, but the fact is emphasized that these 
changes can only be effected gradually, hence the breeder 
when commencing his work should give due recognition to 
the influence which established habit in the animals which 
he breeds is likely to exert on his work. 

Modifications of habit in digestion. — That habit in 
digestion may be so modified as to produce certain results 



DIGESTION AND ASSIMILATION 93 

is sustained by the entire history of evolution in live stock. 
At one time the Aberdeen poll was not the peerless beef 
producer that it is today. There are also good reasons 
for believing- that centuries ago the Channel island breeds 
gave milk less rich than the average of the milk obtained 
from there now. Such modification finds further illustration 
in the outcome from the way in which the heifer is grown 
intended for the dairy, in the modifications made by corn 
feeding in the bacon types of swine and in the improve- 
ment of the milking qualities of the beef types of cattle. 

It has been noticed that when the female of a dairy 
breed has been fed foods from calfhood onward that are 
rich in elements of fat and muscle production, the tendency 
in the system to produce flesh and fat is strengthened to a 
degree that appreciably lessens the value of the same as a 
producer of dairy products. Because of this, the most suc- 
cessful growers of dairy stock are careful to rear females 
intended for the dairy on foods that make growth of frame 
and muscle rather than fatty tissue. It will be observed 
that this tendency in food appropriation in the system is 
brought about by the influence of food only. 

The same is true of modification in the character of 
bacon grown almost entirely on corn. In one generation 
it will so modify the bacon produced that it will not be 
assigned first place in the market, although it would have 
been assigned first rank had it been properly grown. Let 
such feeding be continued for a few generations and the 
bacon form will be greatly modified. It will bear a much 
closer resemblance to the form of the lard breeds. 

The milk production of any class of beef cattle may 
also be modified through food fed so as to considerably 
increase the milk fldw. It is a fact the beef breeds are not 
equal in milk production, though fed similarly, a result 
owing doubtless in part to inheritance, and in part to nutri- 
ents contained in the foods which furnished the major 



94 FEEDING FARM ANI.MALS 

portion of their diet. Alodilications in this direetion, how- 
ever, are quite slow unless aided by selection and facilitated 
by the influence of hand milking. 

Habit in digestion also modifies the breeding season. 
Animals well and suitably fed, breed more freely than those 
not fed so well. Through the influence, of food alone, the 
breeding season may be greatly modified if not indeed 
entirely changed. But such modification is greatly influ- 
enced by selection as is the case with all modification. The 
domestic cow as now kept breeds at all seasons. Her 
sister running wild on the plains breeds only when the 
spring grasses are suitable and abundant. They then pro- 
vide ample food to enable her to nourish her young. The 
relation, therefore, between food and management and mod- 
ification of habit in digestion is abundantly clear. 

Modifications not equally easy. — The modifications in 
habit in digestion which are possible are by no means equally 
easy. To illustrate : It does not take long to transform the 
wool growing sheep into one that produces mutton that 
may be considered high class. But it takes a long time to 
make equally pronounced changes in the character of wool, 
and marked modification in the constituents of milk call for 
long generations, if not indeed centuries, to make them in 
a marked degree. 

Modifications in meat production may be quickly made. 
The author purchased ewes from the range very common 
in character. They were mated with a high-class South- 
down ram. The female progeny of the next generation and 
also of the next were similarly mated. The lambs of the 
third generation we're then exhibited at the International 
Fat Stock show at Chicago in 1901 and won first honors, 
both alive and dead, competing against the world. The 
range females originally purchased were possessed of very 
indififerent mutton form and they were of diverse blood 
elements, Merino characteristics being in the ascendant. 

Modification in the character o7 wool is made much 
more slowly, notwithstanding that considerable modification 



iJlCilCSTIOX AND ASSIMILATION 95 

is possible with each succeeding generation. It woukl seem 
correct to say that modification in the length of staple in 
wool is much more quickly made than modification in the 
fineness of the same. Beginning with sheep producing 
coarse wool, it would probably require more than a score 
of generations of careful breeding and selection to produce 
wool as fine in fil)re as that of high class Alefino wool, 
whereas in less than half a dozen generations the form of 
distinctively wool bearing sheep can be transformed into 
high-class mutton form. 

That modification in the essential elements of milk is 
a work that is slow and tedious, is sustained by many exper- 
iments conducted to throw light on this question. It is so 
slow and so tedious that it seems as though centuries would 
be required to efifect marked change through food alone. Of 
course careful and rigid selections would facilitate 
the process. Contrary to the almost universally prevailing 
belief, the food fed does not influence materiallv the ])er 
cent of the fat in milk. A cow which furnishes milk low in 
the per cent of butter fat will continue to furnish milk 
e.-sentially of the same character, though fed food ever so 
rich in carbohydrates and fat. The quantity of the milk 
furnished will of course be increased, and along with such 
increase will come increase in the amount of butter fat pro- 
duced, but only, or at least mainly, because there has been 
Increase in the quantity of the milk produced. To increase 
the per cent of butter fat in milk would require .the most 
persistent selection through long years of careful breeding. 



CHAPTER VI. 
PRINCIPLES THAT RELATE TO RESTFULNESS. 

When animals are not kept perfectly at rest there is 
waste in the food fed to them proportioned to the degree 
of the disturbing' influence, from whatsoever source it may 
arise or of whatsoever character it may be. It is 
seen in less development in growing- animals than 
would otherwise have resulted, in reduced milk flow in 
the case of milk giving animals, in diminished increase 
in animals that are being fattened, and in reduced ca- 
pacity for labor in animals kept for such a use. This 
suppression or withholding as it were, or reduction of ca- 
pacity in performance, means in every instance that more 
food will be utilized in attaining a given end than would 
otherwise be necessary, since it adds just so much to the 
food of maintenance that would otherwise be required. 
Since domestic animals have not the power to proclaim 
their wrongs in speech, nature has thus furnished them 
with this mute way of compelling attention that might not 
otherwise be given. 

Among the many ways in which these disturbing in- 
fluences manifest themselves are the following: (i) Dis- 
comfort arising from inclement weather or from protection 
that is excessive ; ( 2 ) unrest, caused by insufficient or exces- 
sive feeding or by an unsuitable bed on which to lie; 
(3) deprivation resulting from irregularity in feeding 
or working; (4) suffering, caused by insufficient or 
irregular water supplies; (5) irritation, caused by the pres- 
ence of insect life in various forms; (6) injury resulting 
from labor violent, excessive, unduly prolonged, or per- 
formed vmder adverse conditions; (7) harmful results 
from injury inflicted by vicious animals in the herd or 

96 



KliSTFULNESS IN ANIMALS 97 

Hock, or by those of some other species, and (8) unrest 
growing out of sexual desire. All of these have the strength 
of law. No one of them can be present without exacting 
its proportionate penalty. 

Unrest and undue exposure. — The injury resulting 
from undue exposure has already been discussed with some 
degree of fulness (see page 97), but not that arising from 
excessive protection. Protection is excessive when it pro- 
duces undue delicacy, permanently lowers stamina or les- 
sens production. Delicacy is to some extent a question 
of degree, and varies much with animals of the same species. 
An animal becomes unduly delicate when it is no longer 
able to fulfill the end for which it is kept without excessive 
care on the part of the owner. A steer is too delicate for 
range conditions if he cannot endure without hazard the 
conditions to which all the animals of the herd are subjected. 
A dairy cow is too delicate when she cannot successfully 
endure any reasonable exposure required of the average 
of the herd. Such delicacy may arise from various causes, 
but more frequently from close housing in stables that are 
too warm than from any other cause. 

Protection that lowers stamina as it were by insensible 
degrees is excessive, even though it should not reach that 
point which produces delicacy that is apparent. The cow is 
overprotected that is kept standing in the stable all winter 
without the opportunity for exercise, even though the con- 
ditions for ventilation should be perfect. The ewe is over- 
protected when kept even a portion of the time in a shed in 
which the heat of the body becomes excessive under the 
fleece which she carries. The colt is overprotected when its 
environment is such that it is not encouraged to take all the 
exercise it ought to have in the open air to produce high 
development in frame, muscle, wind and limb. The loss 
of stamina from such protection may be so gradual that 
it can only be certainly measured by comparing one gener- 
ation with the previous, and yet it may be going on all the 
while. Overprotection combined with unwise protection 



98 FEEDING FAK.M ANIMALS 

is doubtless one of the leading factors in the delicacy thiit 
characterizes to some extent the Jerseys and some families 
of Shorthorns and Aberdeen Polls, in the marked tendency 
which they have shown to fall an easy prey to tuberculous 
diseases and also in other ways. 

Increased delicacy and lowered stamina will assuredly 
be followed by lower average production, and the degree of 
the decrease, other things being equal, will be proportionate 
to the degree of the increase in delicacy and decrease in 
stamina. The proviso that other things shall be equal is 
made because decreased production may arise from various 
other causes for which increased delicacy and lowered stam- 
ina may be in no way responsible. Decrease in production, 
the outcome of one or both of these causes, is sometimes 
witnessed in the lack of staying power in the running or 
trotting horse, of endurance in labor in the draft horse, of 
milk yields in the dairy cow, of vigor in new born lambs 
and of decrease in the producing power of some of the 
lard breeds of swine. 

The fact, however, should be carefully noted, that the 
degree of the protection called for varies with the species. 
The necessity for this arises from a difference in inherent 
constitutional endowment, modified by the object or objects 
for which the animals are maintained. The highest degree 
of protection is called for by swine, next come dairy cows, 
then beef cattle, after beef cattle sheep and after sheep 
horses and mules. In furnishing protection these constitu- 
tional variations must be recognized. The degree of pro- 
tection just right^^for swine would soon prove fatal to 
sheep, and that exactly suited to the dairy cow would be 
destructively enervating to the horse. 

Unrest and improper feeding. — When feeding is insuf- 
ficient or excessive, the unrest that follows is proportionate, 
and the same is true when the supply of litter is inadequate. 
Food supplies are insufficient when they do not satisfy 
the cravings of the appetite, when they satisfy the former 
but do not afford sufficient nutriment, or when they are 



RESTFULNESS IN ANIMALS 99 

sought at a loss of energy that hinders growth or perform- 
ance. They are excessive when they are taken to the extent 
of producing digestive derangement or even temporary 
discomfort. 

The sense of deprivation caused by hunger in animals 
cannot be described by language, but it can be understood 
in a way by every human being who knows what it is to be 
l:nngry. It begets unrest. It is not when the lion's appe- 
tite is satisfied that he ranges through the forest, but when 
he is hungry, even in the stall the animal will not be content 
under such conditions. There is hindrance, therefore, to 
growth or performance arising from the unrest growing out 
of short supplies in addition to the hindrance to these aris- 
ing from insufficient nutrition. 

Food given in excess produces discomfort for the time 
being and if conlinued for any considerable length of time 
will eventually derange digestion. There are some foods 
which animals will not usually take in excess under normal 
conditions. Grass is one of these and hay is another. 
Wheat bran among meals stands almost alone in not pro- 
ducing digestive disturbance under ordinary conditions, 
though the animal should eat of it to the extent of satis- 
fying the appetite, and oats among cereals comes the nearest 
to accomplishing the same without injury. Notwithstand- 
ing, grass under some conditions will lead to purging, hay 
in some instances will hinder rather than help labor, as 
when eaten by horses to excess, and the same is true of bran 
and even of oats if eaten in excess by the running horse 
just before a race. 

Other foods are only dangerous when eaten under 
improper conditions, as for instance clover and rape pas- 
ture, and yet are always harmful when eaten under such 
conditions. Xearlv all Ivinds of cereals and the by-prod- 
ucts made from them are harmful but by no means equally 
so when eaten in excess. Prolonged feeding of these 'n 
excess is certain to produce derangement of the digestive 
organs. As soon as this . occurs these become unable to 

LOFC. 



lOO FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

fulfill their functions. Nutrition is not taken in sufficient 
quantities from the food, hence the case becomes one of 
starving in degree in the presence of waste. If such feed- 
ing continues, the consequence will be more harmful, owing 
to the tax put upon the digestive organs through feeding 
to it excessive supplies of food. 

But should the animal have to labor unduly in getting 
its food, and notwithstanding, the supply secured is short, 
the injury resulting will be correspondingly greater. An 
illustration is furnished by animals on short supplies of 
food when pasturing. Under these conditions every step 
taken by the animal in excess of what is necessary to main- 
tain health is taken at a loss to development or perform- 
ance. The same is true of work horses who are made to 
expend too much energy in masticating food not properly 
prepared for them when taking their noonday meal in the 
short space usually allotted to it. 

Discomfort frequently arises from requiring animals to 
li(; down on a bed which does not furnish the requisite 
conditions of comfort. Any bed harder than earth which is 
not furnished with bedding is too hard. The same is true 
of any bed that does not furnish the resting animal with 
conditions that will maintain the necessary bodily heat. 
These questions call for consideration from those who use 
cement or concrete floors, notwithstanding their excellences 
in various ways. Yards in which steers are compelled to 
lie down amid numerous clods formed from congealed ex- 
crement furnish sleeping conditions adverse to well 
doing. Damp beds for swine in cold weather will soon 
produce physical wreckage, and these are even more 
fatal to sheep. The degree of the loss from discom- 
fort arising from allowing cattle that are being fat- 
tened to wade in miry yards has been made the sub- 
ject of experiment by some of the stations, and as 
was to be expected, it has proved to be considerable. 
Under some conditions ample supplies of litter may be dif- 
ficult to obtain, but because of their absorbing powers they 



RESTFULNESS IN ANIMALS lOI 

are useful as well as because of the comfort which they 
bring. 

Unrest and irregularity. — Domestic animals come to 
look for food at a definite time when they are fed with 
reasonable regularity. /\lthough they cannot of course con- 
sult a timepiece, they come to know almost to a minute 
when the time for feeding arrives. That they are in the 
expectant mood is shown by cattle in the stalls usually 
rising to their feet when the hour for feeding draws near, 
and by those in the field being at the feeding troughs when 
they are accustomed to get their food. "The ox knoweth 
'his owner and the ass his master's crib." Sheep will 
frequently proclaim this expectancy by bleating if there is 
any delay, and swine above all animals will proclaim their 
sense of neglect by the unanimity which they show in 
making hideous noises. Delay in feeding in such instances 
means unrest, a condition which can be well understood by 
the individual who goes beyond the accustomed hour in 
taking food. 

The same is true of furnishing water. Where water 
is accessible at all times, of course animals will help them- 
selves when they want it, but when supplied only at inter- 
vals they come to look for it at such times. The system 
craves it because of the habit begotten, and experiences 
disquietude when it is not supplied on time. 

It is equally advantageous to- milk cows with unfail- 
ing regularity. When the usual hour arrives they expect 
to be relieved of the milk which they have been making, 
otherwise its retention interferes more or less with milk 
elaboration for the next milking. Experience has shown 
that maximum production in milk cannot be realized from 
any cow from which the milk is not regularly withdrawn. 
It has been noticed that even the unhallowed rest which 
on Sabbath morning sometimes leads to delay in milking 
the cows of a herd, sensibly decreases the milk flow from 
two or three milkings immediately following. 



102 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

It is equally important to work horses with regularity 
where the circumstances are such as will admit of it. 
Habit in work is much the same in horses as in men. Ask 
a man to perform the work that he is accustomed to do 
between the hours of seven and twelve in the morning 
at any period of equal duration prior to that hour or sub- 
sequently, and he will not perform it with the same ease, 
though sufficiently supplied with nutriment that may be 
exactly suitable, iiabit has prepared the muscles for work- 
ing under certain conditions, and at certain times, and any 
disturbance in those conditions means lessened capacity 
for work. This is seen no less in the domain of mind than* 
in that of matter. In one instance, a man does his best work 
intellectually in the early morning hours. In another in- 
stance, another will do his best work in the late evening, 
and this may sometimes happen with members of the same 
family. Ask either to do the same work at any other 
hour or hours of the day and the effort would end in 
failure. The same law governs the effective use of mus- 
cles in men that governs the same in horses. 

The farmer who is his own feeder, and who makes the 
time or times of feeding subservient to the demands of 
other work greatly errs. Other work is with things inani- 
mate, or at least with things that do not feel, and conse- 
quently are not conscious of deprivation. The feeding 
of a herd or flock, therefore, should never be made to 
give place to the plowii ^ of a field. 

Unrest and insect pests. — As is known to all, certain 
forms of insect and parasitical life prey upon domestic 
animals to an extent that seriously l;inders growth during 
the period of growth and production at a later period. 
These may, speaking in a general way, be divided into 
three classes ; viz., those which irritate temporarily by 
their bite or sting ; those which produce prolonged irritation 
bv the intolerable itching which they give rise to. and those 
which afTect a lodgment within the tissues or within cer- 
tain organs of the body. To the first class belong flies, 



KliSTFULNESS IN ANIMALS I03 

U) the second the mite which produces sheep scab, and 
to the third the stomach worm. 

Each class of domestic animals has its own peculiar 
insect and parasitical foes. The horse is annoyed by many 
kinds of flies and also by certain skin diseases which pro- 
duce unrest, although every form of irritation from the 
itching" of the skin does not arise from the presence of 
insect life. The condition of the blood may produce much 
irritation. The Bot fly {Gastcrophiliis cqni) is peculiarly 
tlic enemy of the horse. 

Prominent among the fly enemies of cattle are the 
House fly {Miisca domcstica), and the Horn fly (Passalns 
cornutits). They are also annoyed by warbles or grubs 
which are developed in the fleshy tissues immediately under- 
neath the skin. They suffer from the presence of lice which 
irritate by biting. They are also liable to attack from such 
skin diseases as ringworm and mange, the latter of which 
is peculiarly harmful, because of the ease with which it 
is communicated, the extent to which it annoys and the pro- 
longed treatment oftentimes called for in removing it. 

Sheep are peculiarly liable to attack from a species of 
the Gad fly {Tabaniis ruficornis) , which at a certain time of 
the year sometimes succeeds in depositing eggs in the nos- 
tril, which give rise to the tcouble known as "grub in the 
head." The Sheep tick (Mehphagus oz'inus) and the mite 
(Psoroptcs equi), which produces scab, are peculiarly 
enemies of sheep. The same is also true of certain par- 
asitical troubles, such as Tape worm (Bothriocephalus 
lafus). Stomach worm, (.Iscaris liiiiibricoidcs,) and nodule 
disease. 

Swine are much subject to attack from lice, which, 
unless dislodged, go down from one generation to another. 
They are also subject to mange, and there is no animal 
probably which suffers so much from the house fly. This 
arises in part, at least, from the extent to which they are 
so frequently fed and housed in proximity to surroundings 
favorable to the breeding of the flies. 



104 FEEDINC FARM ANIMALS 

The methods by which those varied forms of Insect 
Hfe ar£ to be combated will not be discussed here. They 
have been mentioned for the purpose, first, of pointing them 
out as prominent among the sources of annoyance and 
harm to domestic animals, emanating from insect and par- 
asitical sources, and second, of emphasizing the fact that 
their presence is always adverse to well doing in farm 
animals. The injury resulting ranges all the way from 
temporary annoyance of short duration to weeks and some- 
times months of suffering. In other instances death re- 
sults. Watchfulness may entirely prevent the presence of 
many of those sources of irritation and in other instances 
prompt action may remove them when they appear. But, 
whenever present, they exact a proportionate penalty which 
the owner of the stock has to pay. 

Unrest and labor. — All labor is harmful when it is 
carried to the extent of hindering growth before maturity, 
production before or after maturity, or when it shortens the 
period for producing. Illustrations are furnished in the 
grazing of animals on short pastures, overtaxing digestion 
at any time and in working horses beyond their capacity. 

Up to a certain limit, grazing is not labor. It is exer- 
cise which tends to invigorate the whole being of the ani- 
mal. It becomes labor when it disturbs the equilibrium 
that should exist between exercise and rest. Under some 
conditions, it may not be possible to maintain such equi- 
librium, as when animals graze on mountain pastures or on 
those of the range. But under farm conditions the proper 
relation between these can usually be controlled by the exer- 
cise of sufficient forethought. The amount of exercise thus 
taken without injuring differs in species and in individuals. 
Horses and sheep can take more than cattle and swine, 
and light-bodied animals more than those that are heavy. 
But in all instances when the amount of time called for in 
securing food does not allow time enough for rest and 
recuperation, the penalty is hindered growth or production. 



RESTFULNESS IN ANIMALS IO5 

When an animal is given an undue proportion of unnu- 
tritious elements in the food fed to it, the labor put upon 
it is excessive in digesting such food. Suppose it coulJ 
take enough to supply its needs, energy is thus expended to 
no purpose, hence flesh-making, milk-giving or return in 
physical work is so far hindered. Again an animal is being 
fattened. It is given more concentrated foods than it can 
properly digest. Energy is undvdy drawn upon in the effort 
of digestion to reduce and assimilate the excess, and again 
in the effort of the secretions to carry off the waste. There 
is thus a waste of energy, even though the power to digest 
should not become impaired. Again, when food is given 
not in the best condition of preparation for being easily 
digested, the digestive powers are taxed unnecessarily. Po- 
tatoes fed in the raw rather than in the cooked form to 
swine that are being fattened, furnish an illustration of 
such feeding. Happily, however, many foods as furnished 
by nature are in the best condition for easy digestion as 
nature has furnished them. 

The requirements of labor from the horse are excessive, 
first, when more labor is required of him than his natural 
physical endowment can endure, that is, when he is worked 
beyond his strength ; second, when more labor is exacted 
than the food nutrients though digested can sustain ; third, 
when the labor though not excessive in kind is excessive in 
degree, either through being too violent in character as 
when a horse is overdriven, or too long continued as when 
he is worked too many hours. The law of equilibrium 
between labor and rest demands that sufficient time must 
be given from day to day to rest as well as to work, and 
when this is not given the penalty of a lessened return 
is exacted with unfailing certainty. 

Overwork in all these instances reduces the period for 
profitable production and in proportion to the degree of 
such overwork. The earlier in the life of the animal that the 
overwork occurs, of course the more harmful it is, because 
of the longer period that is affected by it. Animals are 



I06 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

also more susceptible to injury from this source while in 
process of development. 

Unrest and vicious animals. — In some instances, the 
stronger animals of the stud or herd so injure and domineer 
as it were over those that are weaker, as to hinder develop- 
ment or production, and in some instances both. This 
tendency is more strongly developed in horses and cattle 
than in sheep and swine, and probably for the reason that 
they are more effectively armed with weapons of offence. 
Sheep are almost entirely free from viciousness, hence they 
have come to be the emblem of innocence and passive suf- 
fering. 

In some instances the tendency is inherited, in others 
it is begotten and strengthenjed by short supplies of food. 
In the latter instances horses, cattle and swine will play 
the dog in the manger over food that may be given, with 
the dift'crence that they consume the best of the food, 
whereas, the dog does not consume any. Under such con- 
ditions horses sometimes strike and kick viciously, cattle 
gore mercilessly, and swine will move back and forth 
wantonly along the trough, punishing every animal as they 
go and eating all the time with gluttonous haste. Even 
sheep, when rack room is not abundant, will, through 
crowding, force the weaker animals to stand back and 
watch for their opportunity. Unless some remedy is 
brought to bear, the return from the weaker animals wdl 
be seriously lessened. 

In some instances the only remedy is removing either 
the strong or the weak to separate quarters. This remedy 
is about the only one that can be applied in the case of 
horses and swine. With cattle, dehorning is eft'ective. 
The removal of the horns after they have grown a while, 
say until the animals are one year old, is more potent in 
its influence on docility than preventing the horns from 
growing in early calfhood. If the horns, are not allowed 
to grow, the animals learn to strike with the head more 
or less. If they are allowed to remain long enough to 



KESTFULNESS IN ANIMALS lO/ 

enable the animals to realize their use, and yet not long 
enough to permit them to do serious harm to their fellow 
animals by using them, the spirit of viciousness is almost 
completely broken. Dehorned animals are more completely 
docile than animals naturally polled. 

Animals chased or injured by wild animals, as wolves, 
or by wanton dogs, sustain injury far l^eyond that resulting 
from the actual physical harm at the time. Chase and worry 
swine by dogs occasionally, and they become restless. They 
will in time rush away when a dog is called within their 
hearing, whereas, other swine will give no heed to such 
calls, indicating that apprehension, which means unrest, is 
present in their conceptions. Sheep that have been chased 
by dogs once or oftener, become so apprehensive that in 
some instances they never produce profitably again. The 
injury done by dogs to sheep and the apprehension of lo.^s 
from this source, has probably retarded sheep husbandry 
more than all other causes combined. The supineness that 
has been shown in dealing with this question by legisla- 
tures is nothing short of a stigma on an intelligent people. 

In some instances animals suffer greater injury at the 
hands of man than from each other. Some attendants are 
simply brutal in their treatment of animals, and the same 
is true occasionally of owners. The basis of their treat- 
ment rests on passions uncontrolled. Angry words and 
angry blows are of frequent occurrence. Their unoffending 
dependents instinctively shun their presence when they can. 
The unrest thus occasioned results in decreased produc- 
tion. The penalty thus paid is always proportioned to the 
degree of the unrest occasioned by such treatment, and it is 
meet that it should be so. Tt would not seem fitting that 
such offenders should reach final judgment before they re- 
ceive the first iu'^talment of the retributive punishment 
due to their indefensibly harsh treatment. 

Unrest and sexual desire. — With breeding animals, 
unrest is occasioned at certain seasons by sexual desire. 



I08 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

With females such unrest occurs at certain regular inter- 
vals. Those intervals are known as seasons when in heat, 
and they occur with unfailing regularity, when conditions 
are normal, from the time that females are capable of con- 
ception until they reach an age when they are no longer 
able to conceive. Of course the period of pregnancy and 
for some time subsequently to parturition are exceptions. 
]^ is in a sense surprising, that with domestic quadrupeds 
the interval between those periods is practically the same, 
notwithstanding the marked difference in the natural longev- 
ity of the different species. They occur at intervals of 
21 days, and last for about three days. During those periods 
the animals are in a condition of unrest, and one of its 
worst features is that it tends to disturb other animals of 
the herd. Because of this, where it is practicable, such 
animals should be confined until the season of heat is 
passed. During their continuance production in the form 
of either milk or meat is greatly hindered. 

When animals are reared for meat only, unrest from 
sexual desire is prevented by castration or spaying opera- 
tions, which may be performed with greater safety when 
the animals are young than when considerably advanced 
in age. These operations have a beneficial influence on 
development with reference to increase in certain parts of 
the carcass that are more valuable for meat and decrease 
with reference to parts that are less valuable. This is more 
especially true of males. The influence thus exerted is far 
reaching and has an important bearing on the relative price 
that shall be paid for the finished carcass. 

When males are 'kept mainly or solely for breeding 
purposes, as a rule they should be kept separate from 
the females, because of the unrest from sexual desire caused 
by unrestrained access to the presence oi the latter. This 
unrest is of course greatest when some of the females are 
■ in heat, and in such instances it results in needless waste 
of energy on the part of the male. Even when kept apart 
but in adjoining fields, the unrest thus occasioned may lead 



RESTFULNESS IN ANIMALS IO9 

to results that are greatly harmful. In some instances with 
swine, males have been rendered impotent by suck prox- 
imity to pastures in which females have grazed in large 
numbers. 

Nor is the plan to be commended of allowing males and 
females to herd together during seasons when the females 
are pregnant, or when they do not come in heat. The latter 
are much liable to be disturbed by the former, and to the 
extent of more or less of harm resultinsf to both. 



CHAPTER VII. 

PRINCIPLES THAT RELATE TO PROLONGED 
USEFULNESS. 

Years ago domestic animals matured much more slowly 
than they do today. Those intended for labor were not 
pushed so rapidly nor were they required to work so early 
as is customary with such animals today. Those intended 
for the block were given at least 50 per cent more time 
in which to reach maturity than is accorded to them today. 
Nor were cows reared for the dairy bred so young as now. 
The bearing of this upon prolonged usefulness with reference 
to labor, continuity in profitable breeding and abundant milk 
giving was very direct and far-reaching. Unquestionably, 
the relation between the time required for maturity 
and the continuity of usefulness is very direct and close. 
There is not the shadow of a doubt in the mind of the 
author that quick maturity secured under high pressure 
feeding tends to shorten this period of usefulness in the 
life of the animal, notwithstanding that the demonstration 
of this fact may in a sense be an impossibility at the present 
time, from the absence of the necessary data. 

The benefits from prolonged usefulness are many and 
important. These include the following : ( i ) The ani- 
mal must be grown for a time before it begins to give any 
return, hence, the shorter the period of usefulness in ani- 
mals, the larger the number that must be grown in order 
to produce a given result. From want of sufficient data, it 
may not be possible to show that there is more profit in 
maturing animals for labor and milk giving, also for breed- 
ing with only moderate haste than under high pressure 
feeding, but in view of the fact, first, that fewer animals 
are to be reared and maintained to produce a given result ; 
second, that the results from breeding are more satisfactory; 



USEFULNESS IX ANKMALS HI 

and third, that high selection is more easily possible the 
fewer the number of animals required, it would seem rea- 
sonable to conclude that highest profit would result from 
not rushing maturity. The additional cost also of securing 
the larger number of animals prior to the birth period, tends 
to further strengthen this conclusion ; ( 2 ) the feeding is 
not of the high pressure order, and therefore, it is not so 
costly. Too nnich must not be made of this fact, however, 
as it is to some extent offset by increased cost of food 
of maintenance in the slower maturing animals; (3) the 
productive return is more certain than from animals young 
and unproved, hence the risk of introducing animals that 
are inferior for work as breeders, and also as performers at 
the pail, is reduced to a minimum. Fewer animals are 
required to produce a given result, for the reason that they 
produce for a longer period. The smaller the number of 
the animals to be chosen, the less the hazard of introducing 
individuals that are mediocre or low performers. Nor is 
the fact to be overlooked, that the early years of production 
are not so valuable as those that come later. The young- 
horse is not at his best for two or three years after he 
begins to labor and the same is true of milk giving in the 
cow. The fewer the number of animals, therefore, that are 
required to produce a given result, the fewer relatively will 
be the number of those years of performance below what is 
maximum. It is different, however, with animals that are 
being grown for the block. The more quickly they are 
grown without excessive feeding, the more profitably are 
they grown. 

Deferred production and usefulness. — The period of 
usefulness may be prolonged in various ways. Among 
these are the following: ( i ) By not seeking production 
at too early a period in the life of the animal; (2) by 
practicing moderation in feeding while the animal is in 
process of development and subsequently; ( t,) by intel- 
ligently adapting the degree of exercise given to the needs of 



112 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

the animal. Of course, inheritance also has a quahfying influ- 
ence, but that phase of the (juestion has ah-eady been dis- 
cussed. (See page 2)7 ■) 

Production is sought at too early a period when the 
animals are bred too near the birth period, when the mi'k 
giving begins at too young an age, or when labor is required 
at a period too early in the process of development. 

The age at which animals should be bred depends 
somewhat on the class of the animal and also the object for 
which it is kept. There should be a proper relation be- 
tween the period of the first breeding and the period of 
average usefulness in the life of the animal. The longer 
the time covered by this period, the longer should the first 
mating be deferred. It is evident, therefore, that deferred 
breeding would stand in the following order with domestic 
animals : Standard-bred horses, draft horses, beef cattle, 
dairy cattle, sheep kept mainly for wool, sheep kept mainly 
for mutton, swine grown primarily for bacon and swine 
of the lard types. The longest period of the deferred breed- 
ing would apply to standard-bred horses, and would de- 
crease with the other classes in the order named. It would 
seem at least approximately correct to say that the relation 
between the time of the first mating and the period of use- 
fulness covered in the life of the animal, would be as one 
is to six; that is, if the period of usefulness covered by 
the average animal were 12 years, it may be bred at the 
age of two years. This would make the minimum age 
for breeding the various classes of animals named approx- 
imately as follows : Swine of the lard types one year, 
mutton sheep one and one-half years, dairy cows one and 
three-fourths years, cows of the beef breeds two years, 
draft mares two and one-half years, and the standard-bred 
three years. In practice the two classes of sheep and swine 
named are bred at the same age, in order to have the young 
produced at the most favorable season of the year for such 
production, and in order to accomplish this, the time for 
the first breeding may come a little earlier or later than 



USEFULNESS IN ANIMALS II3 

the age named. Sheep, for instance, are sufficiently ma- 
tured for being bred at a younger age than i8 months, but 
for the reason just given are not usually bred until 19 
months old. 

The objection to immature breeding is found in the 
undue tax which it puts upon the system. While develop- 
ment is yet uncompleted, the system is taxed by reproduc- 
tion. When the energies of the system are thus divided at 
too early an age, the development of the animal is hindered, 
so that it is less perfect than it would otherwise be. The 
same is true of the animal produced. It has not been de- 
veloped in the highest sense while in embryo, and, there- 
fore, begins the race in life at a disadvantage. Stamina is 
lowered and size lessened in both the animal producing and 
that produced. The argument is not tenable that animals 
may be bred as soon as they are capable of breeding. To 
practice this generally would be followed by decadence, 
that would result in great deterioration with domestic ani- 
mals and with the human family as well. Should it be 
objected that wild animals breed at the earliest age possible, 
and yet do not deteriorate, the answer is found in the pre- 
carious character of the food supplies which insures rela- 
tively slow development. 

A second objection to immature breeding is found 
in the fact that no sooner has the animal produced than 
the drain on the system in order to feed it becomes inten- 
sified. The influence of such a drain is best seen in the 
quick tendency in the sow, and especially the immature sow, 
to lose flesh while nursing her young. Beyond question, 
reproduction unduly early, though it may hasten returns at 
the first, is obtained at the cost of less perfect development 
and also at that of a curtailed period of production. Should 
the animal thus required to give milk while yet imma- 
ture be soon bred again, the evil is intensified. The three^ 
fold burden is laid upon the animal of completing matu- 
rity, of furnishing milk and of agaim nourishing the foetus 
from a second impregnation. 



114 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Should the question be raised as to whether animals 
should be allowed to mature fully before being bred, theo- 
retically the answer given must be yes, but practically it 
is no. It has been noticed that there is some danger that 
the organs of reproduction may become less active if 
breeding is long deferred, hence the number of non-breed- 
ers is increased by such breeding. Food overabundant and 
lacking in succulence intensifies such a condition. It is 
also thought, that a habit of the system to nourish the 
frame, at the expense of lessened capacity for milk pro- 
duction, is thus unduly intensified. It would seem probable, 
however, that many dairymen have overestimated this dan- 
ger, and have in consequence been led to breed the young 
females of the herd at too early an age. Where influences 
thus antagonistic meet the breeder in his operations, the 
only wise course is compromise, that is to have animals 
bred while maturity is yet uncompleted but at a more 
advanced age than that at which they are now generally 
bred. 

The third objection to immature production applies to 
labor, such as is now generally performed by the horse 
and mule. If labor, and especially labor unduly severe, is 
required of these animals while short of maturity, capacity 
for labor will undoubtedly be lessened and also the period 
of effective labor. Notice, it is not labor that is thus crit- 
icised, but labor that is unduly severe, which means driving 
the standard-bred horse too rapidlv at too young an age 
and setting the draft horse and the mule drawing burdens 
beyond their strength. In both instances, such labor con- 
tinued until the energies are fagge'd intensifies the resultant 
injury. But light labor, even at an early age, should not be 
in any sense harmful, since it is in line with the natural 
tendency in the young horse to take abundant exercise. 
Without doubt the muscular capacity of the draft horse 
could thus be increased by judicious labor while young, and 
also the staying capacity of the standard-bred by judicious 
driving at an early age. It is more important with the 



USEFL'LNESS IN ANIMALS II 5 

horse and mule that the period of production shall be 
prolonged than with animals whose flesh is used for meat 
since labor is the only return which these animals furnish. 

Moderate feeding and usefulness. — The influence of 
excessive feeding at any time during the life of the animal 
is adverse to prolonged usefulness, and the earlier that it 
occurs, the more harmful is it. The harmful influences are 
clearly seen in the results from fitting young animals for 
the fair, in the decline of breeding power in the milch cow 
fed for any prolonged season under high pressure, and in 
the curtailed period of production in the same. 

The opinion is current among experienced breeders 
that fitting a herd or flock for the fair is in a manner 
sacrificing the breeding qualities of the same. The advice 
is freely tendered to those who are about to lay the foun- 
dation of herds or flocks not to invest in prize winning ani- 
mals. The opinion in the one instance and the advice in 
the other, is grounded on experience and observation, if 
not indeed on both. When breeders claim, as sometimes 
they do, that a certain animal in the herd is too valuable 
to sacrifice by fitting it for the fair, there is great signifi- 
cance in the statement. It is not to be understood, however, 
that the breeding powers of all animals are destroyed or 
even greatly lowered by such fitting, but it is to be under- 
stood that such hazard is always or nearly always present, 
and that it is the result of forced feeding. The larger tlie 
proportion of succulent foods fed, the more advanced the 
age of the animal and the greater the skill of the feeder, 
the less is the hazard from such fitting, and in fitting dairy 
animals it is largely eliminated, since the basis of judgment 
rests largely on the evidences of milk capacity which does 
not involve the question of capacity to lay on flesh. 

That breeding power in milch cows wanes under high 
pressure feeding of long duration has been shown in nu- 
merous instances by the results from such feeding with 
many of the most famous performers at the pail. The state- 
ment cannot be gainsaid that the progeny from them which 



Il6 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

have been equally famous at the pail have been relatively 
few. Such feeding apparently disturbs that equilibrium 
of the system which is equally favorable to milk-giving and 
to breeding capacity. The energies of the system become 
so centered on the former, that transmitting power is ap- 
parently weakened. It has also been noticed that the 
duration of the period of such production has been short, 
seldom covering a period of more than two or three years. 
It then materially declines, and no amount of skill can again 
restore the equilibrium. The digestive machinery has been 
driven at a pressure so high that it has become impaired, 
and the period of profitable production in the cow has been 
proportionately curtailed. 

Steady, prolonged and high production that does not in 
any way impair or destroy equilibrium in the system, is 
to be sought by the breeder rather than phenomenally high 
production, spasmodic and short lived. The temperate zone 
is to be preferred to either the frigid or the torrid zone. 
Likewise the medium high production that does not call for 
forced feeding to produce it, and that does not impair trans- 
mitting power or in any way curtail capacity for prolonged 
usefulness, is to be preferred to high pressure production, 
transient in duration. Ten years of milk production in a 
cow aggregating 60,000 pounds of milk, the outcome of 
moderately high feeding, and a numerous progeny of good 
performers is much more profitable than six years of milk 
production aggregating the same, the outcome of immoder- 
ate feeding, and a progeny not numerous nor capable. 

Exercise and usefulness. — The bearing of exercise on 
prolonged usefulness is both direct and far reaching. It 
qualifies with a certainty that is unerring the degree of the 
present good health that the animal shall possess, the extent 
to which it shall possess stamina, the powers of reproduc- 
tion and also the various functions concerned in production, 
whether in the form of milk or labor. The degree of exer- 
cise called for, however, dififers with animals of the dif- 
ferent species. Horses require the most and swine will 



USEFULNESS IN ANIMALS 11/ 

do with the least among domestic animals. Sheep must 
be given more exercise than would be suitable for cattle. 
Young- animals also call for more than aged. Such exer- 
cise is a necessary accompaniment of muscle development, 
and in the firming of muscles during the growing period. 
That nature has made provision for it is witnessed in the 
gambols of young animals which grow less and less with 
decrease in the necessity for them, as age advances. The 
adverse influence of want of exercise is readily seen in 
the case of swine, even when confined in close pens and 
especially when fed a carbonaceous diet. Soon they become 
unable to use the limbs and general disaster follows if such 
treatment is continued. So is it with all animals. It is 
only a cjuestion of time when deprived of exercise as to 
when the inevitable premature breakdown shall come. The 
influence of want of exercise on stamina is probably most 
readily seen in the horse. Deprive the colt of exercise 
and the muscles are so soft as to become incapable of 
enduring properly taxing laljor at a later period. There 
will also be a deficiency in lung expansion and Lence a 
deficiency in staying power. 

Nowhere is the baneful influence of insufficient exer- 
cise more apparent than in the extent to which it impairs 
the powers of reproduction. That probably more than any 
single influence is responsible for barrenness in domestic 
animals. The adverse influence which, it exercises on the 
character of the production in breeding is even more 
marked, as is witnessed in the enfeebled condition in which 
young animals so frequently come into life. Exercise may 
even be withheld to the extent of rendering the animal 
unable to bring forth when the birth period is reached. 

The adverse influence of insufficient exercise on pro- 
duction has already been touched upon when speaking of 
its influence on muscle development and staying power in 
the colt. The dairy cow in milk will probably do with less 
of it than any other animal on the farm. But, unciuestion- 
ably in time, the want of exercise will tell adversely on 



Il8 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

production in the dairy cow, if in no other way than through 
the enfeebling influence which such want of exercise would 
exert on her entire system. The limit of the restriction 
that may be put upon the exercise given to a dairy cow has 
not yet been fully determined, and probably it never can 
be to the extent of formulating any rule that will prove 
generally applicable since it is a factor that will be influ- 
enced by conditions which relate to breed and general man- 
agement. That the results referred to above will tend to 
curtail the period of possible usefulness in an animal is so 
patent that it does not need demonstration. 

Of course the period of usefulness may be curtailed by 
over exercise, but such exercise will seldom be taken vol- 
untarily. If taken it is imder the constraint of labor that 
compels, as in the case of the horse, or under the necessity 
for exercise in searching for food, as in the case of ani- 
mals kept much of the time on pastures quite inadequate to 
their needs. 

Extent of prolonged usefulness. — There is, of course, 
a limit to the period covered by the profitable production 
of all animals. That period differs in the classes of domestic 
animals and in the breeds of the same. Since it is influenced 
by feeding, management and inheritance, it is evident that 
the duration of this period is in a sense flexible. It may be 
prolonged or shortened. The tendency during recent years 
has been to shorten it through shortening the period of 
maturity. It would seem to be easily possible to carry 
change in this direction too far, especially for the best 
interests of breeding, of milk production and of labor. 
With meat-making animals it is different. The end for 
which they are grown is the block and the age at which 
they will bring greatest profit for this purpose, all things 
considered, is the age when life should terminate with 
them. 

It is entirely different, however, with breeding ani- 
mals. The successive acts of breeding involve repetition, 
and the greater the number of the instances of successful 



USEFULNESS IN ANIMALS II9 

repetition in breeding proper in character, the greater will 
be the degree of the profit from keeping such animals for 
breeding. The same is true of milk giving. There is 
succession in its periods, and the longer the succession of 
those periods, that is, the greater their number without 
much diminution in the maximum of milk furnished by 
each, the greater will be the return. With reference to 
labor there is also- succession, and more constant in char- 
acter than is possible from either breeding or milk produc- 
tion. It is in some instances daily repetition from year 
to year. Its daily occurrence without the necessity for pe- 
riods of temporary cessation other than those necessary for 
rest from day to day, make its prolongation still more 
important. The importance of such prolongation is fur- 
ther emphasized by the fact that usually animals used for 
labor, that is horses and mules, are not used for meat after 
the labor term is ended. 

From what has been said, it will be very evident the 
age limit of usefulness cannot be definitely fixed. With 
animals grown primarily for meat, the shorter the life 
period which duly considers the cost up to the time of birth, 
and which does not involve too costly feeding, the better. 
With animals maintained primarily for breeding and in a 
secondary sense for meat production at the close of the 
breeding period, the aim should be to prolong the period 
of such breeding. The limit of such prolongation would 
be the limit of capacity for breeding without any diminu- 
tion in the individual prospective excellence in the progeny, 
and without too much reducing the value of the carcass 
when finally disposed of. With animals kept primarily 
for milk production and in a still more secondary sense for 
meat making, at the end of the milk-giving period, it is 
still more important that the period of usefulness shall be 
prolonged, since animals may be profitable for milk giving 
for a longer period than it would be profitable to retain 
progeny which they may bear for breeding uses. 



120 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

In Other words, animals may be profitable for milking 
when so far past the meridian of vigor that they may not 
be able to produce animals possessed of the highest essen- 
tials for successful breeding. The limit of the period of 
usefulness with these would seem to be the limit of mark- 
edly profitable milk production. The resultant meat pro- 
duction from them is of so little account that it is scarcely 
worthy of serious consideration as a factor in influencing 
duration in the milking period. It is quite different, how- 
ever, with dual types of cows. With them the carcass is 
a factor of no little importance, hence its value should be 
considered. The limit of the duration of milk giving ni 
the dual cow would probably be the same as the limit of 
the duration of her capacity for successful breeding. But 
most of all is it important that the period for useful labor 
shall be prolonged in horses and mules, for reasons already 
given. The limit of the duration of such usefulness is not 
easily fixed. It ought to cease when the relative cost of 
maintenance and of driving become too great relatively for 
the resultant profit. Then it is that such animals should 
be sent to the shades of non-existence by some form of easy 
death. To sell them to those who are liable to abuse them 
subsequently would be in a sense criminal. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
PRINCIPLES THAT RELATE TO PREGNANCY 

The discussion of this question will consider only such 
phases of pregnancy as will show the relation between foofl 
and exercise and development during the period of preg- 
nancy and the nursing period that immediately follows it. 
The whole cjuestion in the wider sense is discussed by the 
author in the book, "Animal Breeding," Chapters IX to 
XVI. 

Among the principles that relate to food and exercise 
in their relation to pregnancy and that have the strength 
of law, are the following : ( i ) The time of mating is 
much influenced by the food fed; (2) the degree of the 
impregnation is influenced by bodily condition at the time 
of mating; (3) the relation between the food fed and the 
character of the development /// ntero is intimate and close ; 
(4) sufficient exercise for pregnant animals is absolutely 
essential to successful breeding ; ( 5 ) a reasonably high con- 
dition of flesh during pregnancy is in no way antagonistic 
to successful breeding; (6) dams in good flesh at the time 
of parturition can nourish their young better than those 
in low flesh. 

Pregnancy and time of mating. — The chief influences 
that determine the breeding season are food, habit and in- 
heritance. The first of these only will be discussed here. 
Food afifects the time of mating through the influence 
which it exercises on the system as a whole, and more 
particularly on the organs concerned in generation. It 
would seem correct to say that whatever aids digestion 
will also prove an aid to prompt and regular breeding. 
The breeding impulse is influenced by the character of the 

121 



122 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

I'ood fed as to its constituents, the degree of its succulence 
and the nutrition which it contains. 

Some foods are less favorable than others to repro- 
duction, because they are ill-balanced. An exclusive corn 
diet is too highly carbonaceous. A diet consisting entirely 
of sorghum is even more harmful. Other foods are in suf- 
ficient balance, but their condition is too dry. Such is grass 
of certain kinds, matured and dead. Others again are too 
watery. Grass young and watery may have reasonable 
balance in its constituents, and yet be too watery, as when 
it induces a condition of the bowels so lax as to be unfa- 
vorable to development for the time being. Foods in rea- 
sonable balance as to their constituents, possessed of ample 
nutrients in proportion to their bulk and withal succulent, 
but not watery, are the most favorable to breeding. Thus 
it is that cows wintered on a low and dry diet come in 
heat after having fed for a long enough season on grasses 
succulent and nutritious. It also explains why ewes act 
similarly which have reared lambs after they have grazed 
for a short season on well-grown rape. This explains also 
why wild animals that breed once a year, breed only at 
a particular season 

Any food that is possessed of the desirable nutrients 
and that has a reasonable amount of succulence when fed 
with sufficient liberality to improve the condition of the 
animal will have the effect of hastening the breeding 
impulse. This arises from the fact that food that tends 
to build up the system stimulates activity in all the func- 
tions of the same, including the organs of reproduction. 
The knowledge of this fact has been turned to practical 
account by the stockman. It has enabled him to hasten 
the mating season with ewes after their lambs have been 
weaned, and likewise the breeding of sows from which 
two litters are sought each year. It enables the stock- 
man also to modify the season for breeding. This has 
proved of great practical service in connection with the 
breeding: of cows. 



PREGNANCY IN ANIMALS 1 23 

Pregnancy and impregnation. — The character of the 
food fed not only iniluences the season for mating, but it 
also influences what may be termed the degree of the 
impregnation. This means that the character of the de- 
velopment in ntcro is influenced more or less by the physi- 
cal condition of the parents at the time of mating. It 
means also that with animals which produce more than 
one at a birth, the relative number of the progeny will be 
influenced by the same condition. 

That the first influence referred to is operative has 
been determined by observation. Similarly it has been 
ascertained that this influence extends to the male, how- 
soever the female impregnated may be fed subsequently. 
It is fair to infer, therefore, that the same is true of the 
influence of the female at the time of mating. 

But it would seem reasonable to suppose that the 
sum of the influence exerted by the female prior to the 
birth period, would be greater than that from the male, 
not in determining form and other inherited qualities, but 
in influencing the size of the young animal or animals 
when born, the relative degree of bone and muscle pos- 
sessed, and also the vigor of the young animal at that 
time since these are of necessity influenced by the food 
fed to the dam while the foetus is in process of de- 
velopment. 

That the condition of both parents at the time of 
mating does influence the numbers of the progeny where 
more than one is very commonly produced at a birth has 
also been ascertained by observation. If either parent is 
reduced in physical vigor, whether from want of sufficient 
nourishment or from excess of the same, the influence is 
adverse to relatively numerous progeny. The influence of 
a diet lacking in succulence acts in the same direction, 
though sufficiently nourishing. These, of course, are not 
the only influences that afifect prolificacy, but they are 
among the most potent, though not so potent as inheri- 
tance. 



124 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

The influence thus exerted has been turned to good 
account, more especially by flockmasters as those of Great 
Britain. As the breeding season approaches they exercise 
special care in the feeding of the ram. The aim is to give 
him food sufficiently nourishing and succulent to Keep 
him in a vigorous and "sappy" condition. Likewise the 
ewes are put upon fresh and nourishing pastures two or 
three weeks or more before the breeding season. Usually 
the pastures are supplemented with a small allowance of 
grain. In some instances the pastures are sufficiently 
nourishing without grain, as for instance when they con- 
sist of rape well advanced in growth. Similarly by feeding 
brood sows nourishing food subsequently to the weaning 
period, and for a longer or shorter period before weaning, 
it has been noticed that the numbers in the litters are 
increased. The duration of the building-up period, so to 
speak, is dependent on the degree of the flesh carried. 

Pregnancy and food. — That the relation between the 
food fed and the character of the development in iitcro is 
both intimate and close is witnessed in the varied results 
frc»n feeding difl:'erent foods to pregnant dams of the same 
species. When the carbohydrates are in excess in the 
food, the development of muscle is so far less than it would 
otherwise be. When the protein is in excess, the muscular 
tissue will be in excess at the time of birth, hence the 
progeny though large when born are much liable to be 
flabby and weak. When the ash is deficient, the relative 
proportion of bone will be too little and the quality of the 
same will be lacking. 

Feed corn for instance as the exclusive diet to a preg- 
nant sow and the young when born will be less in size, and 
possessed of less bone than is normal. Corn is not a bal- 
anced food. It is rich in carbohydrates and deficient in 
ash. Feed clover hay to pregnant ewes and along with it 
large quantities of rutabagas, and the lambs will be large 
at birth but flabby and weak. In such food there is an 
excess of protein. 



PREGNANCY IN ANIMALS 



1^5 



The importance of feeding foods in balance and suit- 
able in kind to pregnant animals is too frequently under- 
rated. When it is not thus fed, the young are at a disad- 
vantage at the very outset, from the lack of equilibrium in 
development. Such disadvantage can never be entirely 
overcome. , 

The danger is also present that malformations will 
be more numerous when ill-balanced food is fed, and that 




TYPICAL CHESTER WHITE SOW 



the proportion of still-born will be increased, and that 
troubles will multiply at the time of parturition, and also 
that the newly born animals will call for more careful 
attention than would otherwise be necessary. 

Pregnancy and exercise. — That ample exercise for 
pregnant animals is essential to the well being of the 
progeny has been abundantly proved in the realm of expe- 
rience. The relation between the amount of exercise taken 
by the dam when not excessive, and vigor in the progeny 
when born, other things being equal, is constant. This 
accounts for the much greater vigor of the lambs of the 
Cheviot and Black-faced Highland breeds of sheep dropped 
on their native pastures, as compared with those of some 



126 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

of the large breeds when kept in small paddocks during 
the larger portion of the period of pregnancy. The for- 
mer are not easily caught when but a few hours old, the 
latter frequently call for special attention to get them on 
their feet. 

The amount of exercise required by the different 
classes of domestic animals when pregnant varies. The 
mare calls for even more than the ewe, and the ewe needs 
more than the cow and the brood sow. The cow will bring 
forth her young with reasonable safety under conditions of 
confinement that would prove fatal to the progeny of the 
breeding mare. Likewise the sow will produce with rea- 
sonable success under conditions of confinement that would 
prove fatal to the progeny of the ewe. The importance of 
this question is such as to encourage the efforts of stock 
growers to increase the exercise taken by pregnant dams 
under confined conditions in winter. This may be done 
by enforcing labor in the case of mares and by compelling 
other dams to take some exercise by changing the condi- 
tions of feeding. 

Milch cows will breed with reasonable success under 
conditions of close confinement in winter providing they 
have access to the pastures in summer. The confinement 
may be as close as restriction to the stall and its stanchion 
or tie chain. Notwithstanding, the stamina of the progeny at 
birth is less than that of calves from cows which have some 
daily yard exercise, and the stamina of calves^rom the latter 
at birth is less than that of calves born on pastures months 
subsequently to the commencement of the grazing season. 

Pregnancy and good flesh. — That a reasonably high 
condition of flesh rightly put on previous to or during 
pregnancy is in no way detrimental to successful breeding, 
but rather the opposite, is capable of easy demonstration. It 
is sustained by theoretical principles, the soundness of 
which cannot be shaken, and by the results of practical 
experience, notwithstanding that the opposite view is still 
held by some breeders. 



PRiilGNANCY IN ANIMALS 12/ 

The dam of course must nourish the foetus from the 
time of impregnation. The nourishment comes tiirough 
the circulatory system. The circulation is sustained from 
the food digested. It stands to reason that as soon as 
conception has taken place, a part of the nutriment from 
the food eaten is diverted from the dam, who would other- 
wise profit by it, to the foetus which she carries. If she 
is in a condition of reasonably high flesh at the time of con- 
ception, she will not suffer by such diversion, but if in 
low flesh at such a time then the opportunity to build up 
the system and thus to fortify it against the drain which 
the milk-giving period entails is so far taken away. It is 
true of course, that a dam in low condition at the time of 
conception may be so built up as to be in good flesh at 
the time of parturition. 

Of course, it is easily possible to have the dam in so 
high a condition of flesh at the time of mating as to be 
unfavorable to conception. It would also be possible to 
sustain her in a condition of flesh so high as to be unfa- 
vorable to the development of the foetus. Such difficulty 
is met with in the management of females shown at fairs 
which are grown chiefly for producing meat. The progeny 
of such females are in many instances less than average 
in size at birth. It should be remembered, however, that 
for one animal too high in flesh at the time of conception 
and during pregnancy for the best results, there are many 
animals too low in flesh for the same. 

When pregnant animals carry flesh, to the extent of 
proving adverse to successful breeding, it will usually be 
found that the adverse results are owing more to the 
unsuitable character of the food which made the flesh than 
to the high condition of flesh. The influence of high flesh 
made by feeding carbonaceous foods, such as corn and 
fodders lacking in succulence though rich in nutrients, is 
very different from that exerted by the same resulting 
from feeding foods in balance and withal succulent. The 
same h true of course of the influence exerted by foods 



128 FEEDING FARxM ANIMALS 

on development in utcro. if a dam in low flesh at concep- 
tion is brought into high flesh before the time of parturi- 
tion by feeding foods highly carbonaceous, such foods will 
be adverse to development in the foetus. The same con- 
dition of flesh can be attained by feeding succulent foods 
in balance without injury to the foetus, but a longer time 
is required to produce such a result. 

The extent to which nutriment in the food will be di- 
verted from the dam to the foetus is not governed alone 
by the character of the food. Two dams of the same breed 
may be fed the same kind of food when pregnant and one 
will nourish the foetus much better than the other, though 
all the conditions are the same. One female with suitable 
food will increase in flesh but at the expense of the progeny, 
as evidenced in small size at birth. Another female under 
like conditions will not increase in flesh, but will produce 
a robust progeny of large size at birth. The reasons for 
such variations are not well understood, but it is probable 
that habit in digestion, the result of inheritance and also 
the character of the feeding previous to the first conception, 
exert an important influence. 

Pregnancy and nursing. — That dams in good flesh at 
the time of parturition can nourish their young better than 
if in low flesh is proved by observation and by general 
experience. So constantly do such results follow that they 
cannot be gainsaid, even by those who are opposed to the 
idea of much flesh in the dam when her young are born. 

Wlien a dam produces progeny while she is low in 
flesh, the drain upon the system is such in nourishing her 
young, that howsoever she may be fed, she will scarcely 
be able to maintain her weight. It is more than probable 
that she will lose rather than gain. The more freely that 
she produces milk, the more probable is it that she will 
lose rather than increase her flesh. The food that she 
furnishes to her young must come almost entirely from 
the food which she eats. Suppose the same dam had been 
in good flesh at the time of parturition, and that the extra. 



PREGNANCY IX ANIMALS I2y 

flesh she carried had been made from suitable foods, she 
would then have been possessed of a reserve supply as it 
were from which to nourish her young in addition to the 
milk produced from the food fed. As in the former in- 
stance she would lose flesh but not to anything like the same 
degree, owing to the extent of the reserve in flesh. Her 
young, therefore, would be nourished not only by milk, but 
by the reserve food in her system transformed into milk. 
In the second instance, therefore, she would certainly 
nourish her young much better than in the first instance. 
While doing so, she would be possessed of greater vigor 
than in the first instance, and this would have a favorable 
bearing on the processes of digestion. 

The advantages from maintaining a good condition of 
flesh in pregnant animals, therefore, include the following: 
(i) They have a reserve fund stored in the system which 
is drawn upon for the advantage of the young after they 
are born; (2) they are possessed of more vigor which is 
turned to good account in the processes of digesting and 
assimilating the large amounts of food fed; (3) they are 
much less liable to reach that low condition of flesh which 
is not favorable to high production or profitable breeding. 

Abundant flesh, however, produced by food highly car- 
bonaceous in character, would be unfavorable to impregna- 
tion, and if maintained subsequently by feeding similar 
food, would also be unfavorable to the development of the 
foetus and to the proper feeding of the young animal when 
born. Such foods fed freely to dams in low condition when 
their young are born, will aid in maintaining fiesh in them, 
but at the expense of the progeny, as such food is not 
favorable to milk-giving. 



PART 11. 
Having discussed the leading principles that govern 
feeding in Part I, it is now in order to discuss in Part 11 
the value of type in the animals to be fed, and the princi- 
ples that govern the actual feeding of the foods with refer- 
ence to adaptation to age and class. The principles that 
govern feeding will not avail unless the foods are fed to an- 
imals of at least measurably correct form to answer the pur- 
pose for which they are fed. Nor will these avail unless 
the rations used are given in at least approximate accord 
with the principles that govern the actual feeding of the 
foods. Chapter IX, therefore, will discuss the value of 
type in domestic animals and Chapter X, the principles 
that govern the feeding of foods. 



131 




a ^ 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE VALUE OF TYPE IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 

Type may be defined as another name for form or 
conformation. But it differs from these in that, when used, 
it has reference to form or conformation, bearing upon 
adaptation to a certain end, whereas these terms apply to 
conformation in the abstract. In the strict sense it appHes : 
( I ) To conformation within the br^eed rather than to con- 
formation within the class to which the breed belongs. 
For instance, the class cattle embraces many breeds. These 
differ from one another in form, hence they differ from one 
another in t}^pe. But within some of the breeds are cer- 
tain strains or families possessed in common of peculiarities 
of form. In Shorthorn cattle, there are' the Bates, Booth 
and Cruikshank strains. Each of these constitutes a type 
which differs from the others in certain points of conforma- 
tion, hence these differ from one another in type; (2) to 
conformation within the class as determined by classifica- 
tion, or, to be more exact, as making classification possible. 
For instance, within the species cattle are known as the 
beef, dairy and dual purpose classes. Each of these em- 
braces several breeds, and also many animals of mixed 
breeding, possessed of certain peculiarities in form in com- 
mon, with reference to a certain end, notwithstanding other 
peculiarities of form in which they differ. Hence, they are 
also spoken of as beef, dairy and dual purpose types; (3) to 
animals possessed of certain peculiarities of form which 
stand out more prominently than other peculiarities but 
without reference to breed or grade, as when cattle are 
referred to as being of the low-down, blocky, or of the 
longer limbed and more rangy form. They are then com- 
monly referred to as possessed of the blocky and rangy 
types respectively. 

133 



134 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Type is valuable as an indicator of utility or adaptation 
for a certain end. Peculiarities of form in horses indicate 
capacity for speed or labor respectively, or for a combina- 
tion of the two. In cattle these indicate capacity for 
meat or milk, or for a combination of the two. In sheep 
they indicate capacity for mutton or wool production, and in 
swine for producing meat of a certain quality. In a sense 
less pronounced, it is an indicator of breeding qualities, of 
general ruggedness or weakness, and of feeding capacity. 
But its chief value lies in what it indicates with reference 
to capacity for production, as of meat, milk, wool, speed 
or labor. 

Type, however, as an indicator of utility or adaptation 
is to be taken as a general, rather than as an absolute guide. 
In a general sense, it is an infallible guide. For instance, 
when a cow is possessed of pronounced dairy form, it is 
also known that she is possessed of far higher adaptation 
for producing milk than for producing meat. But this ex- 
act degree of her capacity for milk production cannot be 
known in the absence of actual proof, the result of perfor- 
mance. Hence, it is, that no judge living can go into an ex- 
hibit of dairy cattle, all the individuals of which are high 
performers, and tell to a certainty which stand highest in 
actual milk production. So it is with performance in all 
lines and with all classes of live stock. This is owing to 
the bearing which other qualifying influences have on pro- 
duction ; such as habit, use, training, and also to the wis- 
dom previously exercised in the application of the various 
known influences that have a bearing on development in 
performance or production. 

Type should be sought in the highest degree obtain- 
able in the line of what it indicates, providing it is not car- 
ried to that point where it begins to react prejudiciallv 
upon properties co-related and essential to highest perform- 
ance or production in the direction sought. For instance, 
should ranginess in the running horse be sought to the ex- 
tent of weakening staying power, the type thus sought is 



TYPE IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS I35 

extreme. The same is true of dairy type that carries Hght- 
ness and spareness of form to the extent of undue narrow- 
ness in the chest and hind quarters, of mutton type that 
carries blockiness to the extreme, which is prejudicial to 
breeding, and of bacon type which carries length of body 
so far as to produce unprofitable feeders. 

Type is the basis on which rests the classification of 
breeds with reference to production or performance. To 
be more precise, it is the interpreter of the indications of 
that utility on which classification rests. It divides cattle 
into the beef, dairy and dual purpose classes ; sheep, in a 
general way, into mutton and wool-producing classes ; swine, 
into producers of lard and bacon, that is, fat and lean pork ; 
and horses into draught, light and general purpose classes. 
Each of the individual breeds within the class is also char- 
acterized by its own distinguishing type features. 

It is very evident, therefore, that if food is to be util- 
ized to the greatest extent possible, this can only result 
when it is fed to animals possessed of the correct type for 
the end sought. To feed food to animals possessed of pro- 
nounced beef type in the hope of securing a high return in 
milk would be in vain, and vice versa. To feed food in 
harmony with correct type for the ends sought is positively 
fundamental, or these ends will not be obtained. This 
necessity has the strength of law as shown in Chapter III. 

To aid the student and indeed any who may desire to 
get a correct knowledge of form or type, what are termed 
"standards of excellence" have been drawn up for the 
various breeds, as such, and also for the various types, 
grouped with reference to adaptation to a certain end. In 
some instances, these standards are known by the designa- 
tion "scale of points" and in others by the term "score 
cards." The scale of points is so designated because a cer- 
tain value is affixed to each expressed requisite relating 
to form, singly or taken in groups, and stated in figures. 
The sum of these for each standard is loo, which indicates 
perfection. The score card is simply a scale of points, 



136 FEEUINc; FARM ANIMALS 

usually condensed in the terms in which it is expressed. 
It is intended to show the student the relative value of 
each particular factor or requisite of form, but it is not 
adapted for use in the show ring, because of the time con- 
sumed in using- it thus. When judging by the score card 
blank spaces for the numerals are filled in by the student, 
according to his judgment of the merits of the various 
points of the animal which he is judging, and the sum of 
these indicates his judgment of the standing of the animal 
in relation to perfection. 

These standards, as usually drawn up, are intended 
and very properly so, to indicate the perfect animal of its 
kind or class. In some instances, indications of function 
are also given as well as those of form. It is very evident, 
however, that correct form in the same animal will apply 
very differently, at least in some phases thereof, according 
as the animal is in high flesh, moderately high flesh, or leaii. 
This means that the standard of perfection for meat-mak- 
ing animals in good flesh as given in the standards, will 
not furnish a sufficient guide for the person wdio is select- 
ing animals for feeding. For instance, the standard for the 
beef cattle beast in good flesh calls for full crops. Should 
the animal be lower in flesh, the crops will not be full, and 
so of various other points of conformation. But the meas- 
ure of fulness in the crops of lean animals varies greatly, 
and the ability to distinguish between these, so as to know 
whether future good feeding will fill the crops or not, and 
how far it will fill them, is of great moment to those en- 
gaged in producing meat. The ability to judge animals 
prospectively with 'reference to future development is much 
more rare than ability to judge the standing of the finished 
animal. Cattle, sheep and swine, purchased with a view to 
growing or fattening them, or for both uses, are usually 
purchased wdiile in moderate, or even in a low condition of 
flesh. To purchase these on the basis of standards drawn 
up to represent the animal in perfect condition as to flesh, 
would be misleadinof. 



TVrE IX DOMESTIC ANIMALS I37 

In the hope of furnishhig more exact guides to those 
who single out animals for future feeding, or who purchase 
them for the same, feeding standards will be submitted, 
which are intended to show the leading essentials of form 
which such animals should possess. This, however, will not 
be necessary in the case of animals not kept primarily for 
growing meat, as dairy cattle and horses. As these are 
supposed to be maintained simply in that moderate condi- 
tion of flesh most favorable to production of milk in the one 
instance and of labor in the other, the necessity for two 
classes of standards for these does not exist as in the case 
of animals grown for the block. Type will now be con- 
sidered in its relation to cattle, sheeo, swine and horses 
respectively. 

Type in its relation to cattle. — Type with reference 
to production, as already intimated, divides cattle into the 
beef, dairy and dual purpose breeds. The recognized beef 
breeds in America are, the Shorthorn, Hereford, Aberdeen 
Angus and Galloway breeds. The vast majority of high 
class animals suitable for the best productions of meat are 
grades of these, wdiich means that they are the progeny of 
sires of one of these pure breeds, and of females of common 
or mixed breeding. The dairy breeds are the Holstein, 
Dutch Belted, Ayrshire, Guernsey, Jersey. French Canadian 
and Kerry. Likewise, the great majority of good dairy 
cows in the country are grades of these, more especially of 
the Holstein, Ayrshire, Guernsey and Jersey breeds. The 
higher the grade, both in the case of beef and dairy cattle, 
that is, the greater the number of the successive generations 
of straight breeding from sires of one breed, the more 
valuable are the animals likely to be, up to a certain limit, 
for the ends for which they are kept. The dual purpose 
breeds are, the milking Shorthorn, the Brown Swiss, the 
Red Poll and the Devon. The bulk of dual purpose an- 
imals are not confined to the high grades of these breeds, 
but as found at present are composed of various blood ele- 
ments, in many instances, blended without much system. 



138 



FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



But they are produced with much more certainty and satis- 
faction as the direct progeny within dual purpose breeds 
or high grades of these. 

Type in cattle for feeding. — The standards of perfec- 
tion not only for beef cattle but for each of the recognized 
pure breeds in America, and also for each of the pure 
breeds of sheep, swine and horses, are intended to repre- 
sent what these should be in the perfected form. A correct 




SELECTED STEER FOR FEEDING 
[By courtesy of the owner, III. Exper. Sta.] 

knowledge of the standard for any breed is invaluable to 
the person engaged in breeding the same. These stand- 
ards are given in the ''Study of Breeds" written by the 
author. But the standard for the guidance of the breeder, 
as already intimated, in the case of animals designed for 
the block, is not the same as that for the feeder. For the 
guidance of the latter, therefore, when selectmg cattle, 
sheep and swine, standards for these respective classes of 



TYPE IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS I39 

animals will be submitted, each in its proper place. That 
for cattle is as follows: — 

Principal points in cattle for feeding. 

1. Uniformity. — They should be selected with a view 
to uniformity in breeding, size and quality. 

2. Sice. — At least medium for the age and breed. 

3. General Outline. — The body should be moderate In 
length, with good depth and width, and not high from the 
ground. 

4. Head. — Of medium size, short, broad and clean cut. 
(a). Forehead, broad, 

(b), Muzzle, large, broad and moist, 
(c), Nostrils, large and expansive, 
(d), Eyes, large, full, clear, calm, 
(e). Horns, of medium size and good texture and 
oval in shape, 

(f), Ears, of medium size, short and broad for the 
breed, carried firmly and not unduly active. 

5. Neck. — Moderately short, with indications of good 
muscling as shown in depth and thickness. 

6. Back. — Straight from base of neck to tail-head, width 
and levelness depending somewhat on condition as to flesh, 
and having large loin area. 

7. Fore quarters. — Wide and deep, fulness in front, also 
width and levelness at withers, depending largely on the 
flesh carried. 

(a), Shoulders( broad, front and top shoulder points 
not too prominent, smoothness of shoulder being 
largely dependent on the amount of flesh present, 
(b), Chest, capacious, 

(c), Breast, broad and deep, fulness depending on 
flesh carried, 

(d), Brisket, broad but breadth is dependent largely 
on condition, 

(e). Arm, broad at elbow, well muscled, and taper- 
ing markedly toward the knee. 



I40 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

8. Barrel or coupling — Large, wide and deep. 

(a), Ribs, good outward spring and good length, 

well spread apart and well muscled, 

(b), Crops, full preferably, but fulness is dependent 

largely on condition, 

(c), Foreflank, deep and moderately full, 

(d), Hindflank, deep, 

(e), Barrel depression, but moderate in size, 

(f), Underline, straight or nearly so, 

(g). Girth, good around flank and heart and about 

equal. 

9. Hind quarters. — Long, deep and wide, 
(a). Hips, broad and well muscled, 

(b). Rump area, large and broad from loin to tail- 
head and the more level the better, 
(c), Pin bones, wide apart and placed on a level or 
nearly so with the loin, 
(d), Thigh, broad and well muscled, 
(e), Twist, low. 

10. Legs. — Both before and behind, short, straight, 
and set well anart with bone of fairly good size and qual- 
ity. 

11. Handling qualifies. — 

(a). Skin of moderate thickness and covered with a 
fair amount of hair, 

(b). Pliability of skin and softness of coat are de- 
pendent chiefly on conditions relating to food and 
flesh. 
Points especially objectionable. — These include, prob- 
ably in the order named, a narrow chest, a long, slim head 
and neck, flat ribs, a small loin and rump area, and a rough 
shoulder and hook points. 

Reasons may be given in minute detail why these in- 
dications of form and function should be present. But to 
give them in connection with each of the standards sub- 
mkted would unduly swell the contents of the book. For 
the fuller study of these, the reader is referred to "Animal 



TYPE IN DOMESTIC ANI.MALS 



141 



Breeding," more especially the chapter therein on "Animal 
Form an Index of Qualities." However, as standards in 
previous works by the author have not been submitted re- 
lating to the proper furnishings of animals selected for 
feeding, the following brief explanations will be in order : — 
Uniformity is important because of its bearing upon even- 
ness in quality and attractiveness and through these on 
price. Size has an important bearing upon future possible 
increase. The head and neck indicate in various ways ca- 
pacity for development and the character and quality of 
the same. The back has an important bearing upon the 
character and hence upon the value of high-priced meat. 
The development of the fore quarters influences weight, 
and indicates measurably the degree of the stamiiia. The 
barrel development indicates capacity for food consumption, 
in its relation to possible production. The hind quarters 
have an important bearing upon weight of relatively high- 
priced meat. Legs short, straight and wide apart, usually 
sustain compact and wide bodies. Handling qualities indi- 
cate the character of the digestion and more especially of 
the assimilation of food. The carriage is an indication of 
health, vigor and disposition. 

Development in the framework of all immature animals 
must continue until maturity, hence, the fattening of young 
animals carries on development of the frame but in a less 
degree relatively than of the flesh. In animals more ma- 
ture, the development relates mainly to the clothing of the 
framework with flesh and fat and in those mature entirely 
so. In the latter, therefore, fattening afifects only in a 
slight degree the head in all its essentials, the chest capacity 
and the size of the limbs. With reference to the head, chest 
and limbs, therefore, the standards for the unfinished 
and finished animals are virtually the same. But in various 
other respects, the difiference is marked. 

Promment among those differences are the follow- 
mg: — (i) In the finished animal the entire body becomes 
more massive and the carriage more labored; (2) the neck 



142 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

vein is more filled, the back is wider and more level, the 
breast is fuller, the brisket is wider, the fore flank becomes 
fuller and the hind flank thicker, the crops become fuller 
and the thighs increase within and without; (3) the cover- 
ing of the parts usually bare, or nearly so, in the lean animal, 
as the shoulder blade and loin is increased; (4) the points 
prominent in the lean animal, as the shoulder points, hooks. 




AAGGIE CORNUCOPIA PAULINE 

World's Champion Holstein seven-day butter cow with her 
owner and breeder, H. D. Roe. Record 34 lbs. 5.2 ozs. 
[Photo by Prof. W. G. Johnson.] 

and pin bones, become less so, in some instances, to the ex- 
tent of being hidden and (5) the skin often somewhat harsh 
and adherent over the ribs in the lean animal, becomes 
much more pliant and loose, and the hair increases in mos- 
siness an brightness. 

Type in dairy cattle. — With dairy cattle the leading 
indications of form and function are essentially the same in 
all breeds and grades, from the time that the cow first 



TYPE IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS I43 

comes in milk until she is sent to the shambles. Even be- 
fore lactation begins, the indications are virtually the 
same, except that in the heifer not yet in milk, the inclina- 
tion to paunchiness in barrel is not so pronounced, and the 
milk veins are not so large, as they develop with age and 
use, and the udder is not sufificiently developed to furnish 
the opportunity for properly judging of the character of its 
glandular development. The one standard, therefore, will 
suffice for dairy cows, viewed from the standpoint of capac- 
ity for production. The variations arising from breed pe- 
culiarities may be found from the standards for the respec- 
tive dairy breeds given in the ''Study of Breeds." 

Indications of correct form and function in dairy cows. 

1. Size. — Medium to large for the breed or grade. 

2. General outline. — What is known as the triple 
wedge-shaped formation, which means, 

(a), Increasing width from the withers downward, 
(b), Increasing width toward the rear parts, 
(c), Some increase in distance between the top and 
bottom lines as they go backward. 

3. Head. — Medium to fine, clean cut, and relatively 
.onger, lighter and more dished than in the beef breeds, 

(a), Forehead, broad and dishing, 

(b), Nose, fine, 

(c), Muzzle, medium to broad and moist, 

(d), Nostrils, large and open, 

(e), Cheeks, clean and spare, 

(f), Eyes, prominent and lively, 

(g). Poll, medium to wide, according to breed, 

(h), Horns, fine, 

(i), Ears, medium with ample secretions, thinner 

than in the beef breeds and somewhat livelier. 

4. Neck. — Inclining to long and light, almost slim, 
(a). It should be fine at the junction of the head 
and should widen and deepen only gradually. 



144 FEEniNG FARM AXIMAES 

(b), The junction with the body should be well de- 
fined, almost abrupt in character. 

5. Back. — Narrow at the withers, wide at the loin, and 
r.t least moderately so at the pin bones, and straight or 
swayed according to individuality. 

(a), A straight back is to Le preferred, other things 
being equal, 

(b). The spinal column shoukl be large, well de- 
fined and open spaced, 

(c). There should be more or less downwanl slope 
from the crupper to the outer edge of the hip. 

6. Fore quarters. — Lighter than the hind quarters and 
spare. 

(a). Withers, narrow, 

(b), Shoulders, not heavy, pronounced in their up- 
ward slope toward one another, and more or less 
abrupt in front, 

(c), Chest, wide through the heart and capacious, 
(d), Breast, wide below, but not prominent, 
(e). Brisket, wedge-shaped, 
(fj, Arm, inclining to light. 

7. Barrel. — Long, deep, capacious, in a sense paunchy, 
(a). Ribs, broad, wide-spaced, with a deep, down- 
ward and outward spring, and much space between 
the last rib and hook point, 

(b), Crops, steep, but not necessarily depressed, 

(c), Fore flanks, fairly well filled, 

(d), Hind flanks, thin but not sunken, 

(e), L'nderline, more or less sagged, 

(f), Girth,' at least fairly good around the heart, and 

increasingly so at the hind flank. 

8. Hi)id quarters. — Long, but varying somewhat in the 
breeds, wide at top of the hips and coming well down, but 
without fulness. 

(a). Hips, not heavy, but more heavy in some breeds, 
(b). Thighs, inclining to light, thin and more or 
less incurved. 



TYl'E IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS I4_:^ 

(c), Buttock, upright or receding somewhat to- 
ward the thigh, 

(dj, Pin bones, prominent and wide-spaced, 
(e), Twist, open, placed high, and roomy, 
(f), Tail, not coarse, tapering, of good length, and 
hanging at right angles to the back. 

9. Escutclicon. — Well defined and well developed 
from the perineum to the udder and extending well out- 
ward on the thighs. 

(a), Breadth below the perineum is said to denote 
prolonged milking qualities, 

(b), Width at the tl:ighs is said to indicate deep 
milking qualites. 

10. Udder. — Long, broad and deep, extending well 
forward and well up behind, and evenly quartered. 

(a), It should be well let down, but not pendulous, 
and the skin should hang in loose folds behind when 
the udder is empty, 

(b). In quality it should be fine and elastic, glan- 
dular, not fleshy, 

(c). The hair on the udder should be soft and not 
plentiful, 

(d), The veins on tiie same well defined, 
(e). The teats of medium size and squarely placed 
or pointing slightly outward. 

11. Milk veins. — Large, tortuous, preferably branched 
and entering the abdominal wall, well forward and througii 
large orifices, usually called milk wells. 

(a). More commonly there are but two milk wells, 
but more are much prized, 

(b). The veins increase in size with advancing age 
in the animal. 

12. Legs. — Medium in length, fine in bone and 
straight, at least fairly wide apart and yet well under the 
body. 



146 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

13. Skin. — Medium to fine, finer than in the beef 
breeds, easily movable, and covered plentifully with fine, 
soft hair, 

14. General appearance. — The carriage should be 
active, the prominences at the angles and also the ribs dis- 
tinctly apparent, and there should be evidences of a ten- 
dency to spareness in form when in milk. 

Given in summary the more important indications 
in a good dairy cow and important perhaps in the order 
given are the following: — 

( I ) Much length and depth in the barrel or coupling, 
indicating a large consumption and utilization of food; (2) 
refinement of form, as evidenced more particularly in the 
head, neck, withers, thighs and limbs; (3) good develop- 
ment of udder and milk veins; (4) constitution, as in- 
dicated by a capacious chest, much width through the 
heart, a broad loin, a full, clear eye, and an active carriage ; 
(5) downward and yet outward sprung and open spaced 
ribs, covered with a soft, pliable and elastic skin. Details 
relating to nerve power, or temperament, constitution and 
vitality, also quantity and quality in milk are given in the 
"Study of the Breeds," page 16. (See also XVIII.) 

The males differ from the females in the following es- 
sentials, as outlined in Extension Bulletin No. 9 of the 
Michigan Agricultural college : — 

1. The general outline should be stronger, including 
more bone and should possess marked indications of mas- 
culinity, as shown in head, neck and fore quarters. 

2. The head should be strong and full of character 
and vigor, as expressed in its poise, clean cut outline, width 
at forehead and full active eye. 

3. The neck should have less of length, more of 
muscling, and should be somewhat arched. 

4. The fore quarters should be more strongly devel- 
oped and should have good width and depth of breast and 
chest as a strong guaranty of good constitution. 



TYPE IN DOMESTIC AMMALS 



147 



5. The back should be straighter, stronger and wider. 

6. The barrel should be relatively shorter and more 
compact. 

7. The hind quarters should be relatively longer and 
broader, the width being carried well back from loin to 
tail-head, and the hip bones set well apart. 




CHAMPION BROWN SWISS COW 

[Typical Dual Purpose Cow.] 
[By courtesy of the owner, E. M. Barton, Hinsdale, 111.] 

8. The rudimentary teats should be well developed 
and the milk veins should be easily traceable. 

9. The skin should be thicker and heavier and yet it 
should be loose, soft, pliable, mellow and elastic and covered 
with a good coat of soft, silky hair. 

10. The general appearance should indicate what may 
be termed irrepressible action, but without any tendency to 
viciousness. 

As the indications of milk inheritance are not so easily 
traced in the dairy male as in the female, it is more im- 
portant relatively " that he shall come from ancestry dis- 



148 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

tinguished for abundant dairy production in the near gen- 
erations thereof. It is also more important because of the 
more numerous progeny which comes from the male. 

Type in dual purpose cattle. — The essentials in 
form and function in dual purpose cattle are virtually the 
same in all the breeds and grades of this class. The chief 
differences are such as relate to breed and grade peculiari- 
ties. The differences pertaining to breed may be ascer- 
tained by consulting the standards given in "The Study 
of Breeds." Those pertaining to grades of those breeds are 
virtually the same, but may be less in degree. 

Indications of correct form and function in dual purpose 

cows. 

1. Size. — Large in form and capacious in body, not 
massive like the high type beef animal, neither coarse nor 
unduly refined and possessed of what may be termed a 
happy equilibrium in development. 

2. General outline. — The form should be parallelo- 
grammic rather than wedge-shaped, and nearly evenly de- 
veloped in front and rear. 

3. Head. — Only moderately large and inclining to 
long, clean cut and free from throatiness. 

(a). Forehead, wide, 

(b). Nose, inclining to long and fine, 

(c). Muzzle, medium to strong and moist, 

(d), Nostrils, large and open, 

(e). Cheeks, lean, 

(f), Eyes, large, prominent and neither restless 

nor sleepy, 

(g). Poll, varying with the breed or grade, 

(h). Horns, inclining to fine when present, 

(i). Ears, of medium size, thickness and action, but 

varying with tlie breed or grade. 

4. Neck. — Inclining to long and fine, but not slim, 
(a), Not coarse at the junction with the head. 



TYPE IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS I4() 

(b), Of medium increasing width and depth toward 
the shoulder, and joining- the latter neither abruptly 
nor so smoothly as in the beef breeds. 
5. Back. — Moderately wide at the withers, wide at the 
loin and pin bones, and straight. 

6. Fore quarters. — Nearly equal in development with the 
hind quarters. 

(a), Withers moderately wide, 

(b), Shoulders large but not prominent, and pos- 
sessed of medium upward and forward slope, 
(c), Chest, wide through the heart, capacious, 
(d). Breast, wide, moderately deep and full, 
(e), Brisket, wide and but moderately full, 
(f). Forearm, broad and but moderately full, 

7. Barrel. — Long, deep, roomy, capacious. 

(a), Ribs, at least fairly well sprung and deep, well 
spaced, easily discernible when the animal is giving 
milk, and possessed of good space between the last 
rib and hook point, 

(b), Crops, filled up nearly level with the shoulder, 
when in fair flesh, 
(c), Fore flanks, low and full, 

(d). Hind flanks, low, moderately full and of less 
than medium thickness, 

(e). Girth, good at the heart and at least good at 
the hind flank, 

(f). Underline straight, or slightly rounded down- 
ward. 

8. Hind quarters. — Long, wide, deep and but slightly 
drooping away from the sacrum and crupper. 

(a). Hips straight on the sides, 

(b). Thighs, broad and in a line externally with 

the hips, and possessed of but little or no incurvature 

behind, 

(c), Buttocks, straight, or nearly so, 

(d), Pin bones, wide, but not prominent, 

(e). Twist, open and placed moderately low, 



150 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

(f), Tail, inclining to fine and long, smoothly set 
on and hanging at right angles with the body. 

9. Udder. — Capacious, evenly quartered, coming well 
forward and backward and not too high or too low. 

(a). When empty it should be pliant, not fleshy, and 
with much loose skin hanging in folds at the rear, 
(b), The teats should be of good size and pointing 
slightly outward. 

10. Milk veins. — Large, long, tortuous, all the better if 
branched, and they should enter the body through large 
orifices or milk wells. 

11. Legs. — Medium in length and bone, straight and 
widely placed. 

12. Skin. — Medium, inclining to fine, easily movable 
particularly on the ribs, and plentifully covered with soft 
hair devoid of coarseness or harshness. 

13. General appearance. — The large, refined and fairly 
smooth form of the dual purpose animal carries with it 
evidences of producing capacity. 

(a). In movement, it is neither sprightly nor slug- 
gish, but easy, 

(b). When in milk, it is not high fleshed, but puts 
on flesh quickly when dry. 
Given in summary the more important indications in 
dual purpose cows and important, perhaps in the order 
named, are the following: — 

(i) Medium to large size for the breed or grade; (2) 
good length and depth in the barrel; (3) good development 
of udder and milk veins ; (4) good constitution as indicated 
by good width through the heart ; (5) head and neck inclin- 
ing to long and fine and (6) ribs of medium spring, deep, 
open-spaced and covered with a good handling skin. 

The points of contrast between dual purpose cattle, 
dairy and beef cattle respectively are given in "The Study 
of Breeds," page 21. What has been said with reference 
to the points of contrast between the male and female in 
dairy cattle (see p. 146) will apply also to the dual purpose 



TYPE IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS I5I 

breeds, except that the indications of nervous energy are 
not so marked in the latter. In choosing males, much at- 
tention should be given to the dual qualities of the im- 
mediate ancestry. 




GRAND CHAMPION CHEVIOT EWE AT STATE FAIR 
[By courtesy of American Agriculturist] 

Type in sheep for feeding. — As previously intimated, 
the standard for sheep selected for fattening is not the same 
as for sheep of the pure breeds. For the guidance of the 
feeder, the following standard is submitted : 

Principal points of sheep for feeding. 

I. Uniformity. — This should relate to breeding, size 
and quality. 



152 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

2. Sice. — The size should be sufficient for the breed 
and the age, and linked with it should be bone, medium to 
strong but not coarse. 

3. General outline. — Smooth, compact, cylindrical in 
shape and square at the ends. 

4. Head. — Of medium size, the shape varying with the 
breed, but a tendency to short, broad and tapering is pre- 
ferred. 

5. Neck. — Short, round rather than flat, well muscled, 
and increasing in size toward the shoulders. 

6. Body. — Long, wide, deep, round and equally bal- 
anced before and behind. 

(a). Back, strong, straight and broad, with large 

loin area, 

(b), Breast, broad and deep and the fuller the 

better, 

(c), Brisket, broad and rounded, 

(d), Shoulder, wide, deep ^nd smooth, 

(e). Forearm, strong and well-muscled, 

(f). Girth, at fore and hind flank large and about 

equally good, 

(g), Ribs, well-sprung from spinal column, well 

arched and deep. 

7. Hind quarters. — Long, broad and deep. 

(a), Rump area, long, wide and level as possible, 
(b), Twist, low, 
(c), Hind flank, low, 
(d), Thighy well-muscled. 

8. Skin. — Of bright color and the more pliable, the 
better. 

9. Legs. — Short, straight and strong, wide apart and 
well under the body, and standing firmly on hoofs of good 
shape and quality. 

10. The whole body should be covered with bright 
lustrous wool and characteristic of the breed or grade. 



TYPE IX DOMESTIC ANIMALS I53 

Points especially objectionable. — These include and 
probably objectionable in the order named: — (i) Indica- 
tions of lack of constitution as shown in long, slim head 
and neck, narrow chest and small heart girth; (2) lack of 
vigor, as shown in low carriage of head, dull eye, drooping 
ears, crooked legs with weak bone, short dry lusterless 
wool and sluggish movement and (3) lack of good flesh- 
ing qualities, as shown in weak back, small loin and rump 
area and small thighs. 

Except in animals not mature, fattening does not in- 
crease the size of head or limbs but it does influence 
materially the covering on all parts of the body. The 
neck vein is filled, the breast rounded out, the crops and 
flanks are filled much fuller, the spinal column is covered 
or nearly so in all parts, flesh is increased on the loin and 
the thighs increase within and without. The yoke is in- 
creased in the wool and with such increase comes increase 
in luster. Thus marked are the contrasts in the furnish- 
ings of the finished sheep, as compared with the one not 
yet fattened. 

Type in swine for feeding. — While the standard for 
swine chosen for being fattened is not the same as for the 
various breeds in perfected form, the difference is not so 
marked usually as with cattle and sheep, since swine 
are more commonly kept in a relatively better condition of 
flesh during the growing period. The standards for the 
different breeds are given in "The Study of Breeds." The 
standard now submitted applies more to the lard and inter- 
mediate types than to the bacon types. The essential dif- 
ferences will be given by way of contrast. 

Principal points of swine for feeding. 

1. Uniformity. — This should relate to breeding, size, 
color and quality. 

2. Si::e. — The size should be sufiicient for the breed 
and the age of the animal. 



154 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

3. General outline. — Moderately compact rather than 
rangy, having the appearance of strength and vigor. 

4. Head. — Medium size, short, broad, tapering and 
not coarse. 

5. Neck. — Short rather than long, moderately wide 
and deep at the junction with the head and increasingly 
so at the junction with the shoulders, 

6. Body. — Long, deep and broad, with fore and hind 
quarters evenly balanced. 

(a), Back, straight, or slightly arched in the longer 
bodied breeds and even in width, 
(b). Shoulders, large, broad and deep, 
(c). Chest, wide and deep, 
(d). Brisket, broad, 

(e), Forearm, moderately short, broad, tapering 
and well-muscled, 

(f), Side, moderately long, deep, straight and even, 
(g). Ribs, springing out well from the spinal 
column, descending with a sharp curve and extend- 
ing well down, 
(h), Heart and flank girth, large and about equal. 

7. Hind quarters. — Long, deep and wide. 

(a), Hams, large and at least moderately full, 
(b). Rump area, broad, level, retaining width from 
loin backward, and not much drooping toward the 
tail-head, 

(c). Thigh, moderately short, broad, tapering and 
well-muscled within and without, 
(d), Twist, low. 
3. Legs. — Short, straight, set well apart, with strong 
bone and short, straight pasterns. 

9. Skill. — Smooth, free from scurf, and covered with 
a moderate coat of soft hair of good quality. 

Points especially objectionable. — These include and 
probably objectionable in the order named: — (i) A long 



TYPE IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



155 



narrow, shallow body; (2) long fine legs with weak pas- 
terns; (3) a long, narrow head, neck and chest and (4) 
scurfiness of skin, indicating mal-nutrition. 

The bacon breeds differ from the lard and inter- 
mediate types in the following particulars: — (i) They are 
less compact in form and are longer in head, neck, body 




QUALITY, CHAMPION PERCHERON STALLION 
AT SPRINGFIELD, ILL., I906, 
[A Typical Draught Horse] 
[By courtesj' of the owners, Taylor & Jones, Williamsville, 111.] 

and limbs; (2) they are fully as deep in body but not so 
wide; (3) they have relatively lighter shoulders and hams; 
(4) they are more active in movement. 

Except with swine not mature, fattening does not 
increase the size of head except in the jowl, or of the 
limbs, but it does increase the covering on all other parts 
of the frame. It affects the width more than the depth. 

Type in its relation to horses, — As previously men- 
tioned, type divides horses into the draught, light and 



156 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

general purpose classes. This classification is general 
rather than specific, as the intermediate types between 
draught and light horses are many and various, and in some 
instances these are not distinctly pronounced. The minute 
discussion of these difl^erences cannot be entered upon in 
this work. Draught horses are maintained primarily for 
drawing heavy loads in the cities and towns and for doing 
heavy work on the farm or elsewhere. For doing such 
work strength and endurance are the first considerations. 
Light horses are maintained primarily for driving or 
riding. While thus employed, speed and endurance are 
the first consideration. General purpose horses are main- 
tained primarily for driving and also for performing work. 
But such strength is not to be looked for as from draught 
horses, nor such speed as from light horses. 

Type in draught horses. — The four distinct breeds of 
draught horses in America are the Percheron, the Clydes- 
dale, the Shire and the Belgian. Each of these has its own 
distinct peculiarities. These can only be ascertained by the 
careful study of the literature pertaining to each. Notwith- 
standing these differences, there are certain essential points 
of form and function which they possess in common, to 
the extent of making it feasible to draw up a scale of points 
that wnll apply to each of these breeds. This has been 
done by Prof. John A. Craig in his excellent book "Judging 
Live Stock," and is reproduced here. 

Scale of points for gelding draught horses. 

General appearance. — Perfect score 

Weight, over ,1500 pounds. Score according 
to age, 4 

Form, broad, massive, low set, proportioned, 4 
Quality, bone clean, yet indicating sufficient 

substance ; tendons distinct ; skin and hair fine, 4 
Temperament energetic, good disposition, 4 

Head and neck. — 

Head, lean, medium size, I 



TYPE IX DOMESTIC AXIMALS 1 57 

Perfect Score 

Muzzle, fine, nostrils large, lips thin, even, i 

Eyes, full, bright, clear, large, I 

Forehead, broad, full, I 

Ears, medium size, well carried, i 

Neck, muscled, crest high, throatlatch fine, 
windpipe large, I 

Fore quarters. — 

Shoulders, sloping, smooth, snug, extending 
into back, 2 

Arm, short, thrown forward, I 

Forearm, heavily muscled, long, wide, 2 

Knees, wide, clean cut, straight, deep, strongly 
supported, 2 

Cannons, short, lean, wide, tendons large set 
back, 2 

Fetlocks, wide, straight, strong, I 

Pasterns, sloping, strong, lengthy, 3 

Feet, large, even size, straight, horn dense ; 
dark color ; sole concave, bars strong, frog 
larg-e, elastic, heel wide, high, one half length 
of toe, 8 

Legs, viewed in front, a perpendicular line 
from the point of the shoulder should fall up- 
on the center of the knee, cannon, pastern and 
foot. From the side a perpendicular line 
dropping from the center of the elbow joint 
should fall upon the center of the knee and 
pastern joints and back of hoof, 4 

Body.— 

Chest, deep, wide, large girth, 2 

Ribs, long, close, sprung, 2 

Back, straight, short, broad, 2 

Loin, wide, short, thick, straight, 2 

Underline, flank low, i 

Hind quarters. — 

Hips, smooth, wide, 2 

Croup, long, wide, muscular, 2 



158 



FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



'^^ 






^KM 


1 


H * i^^^iH^^^Bi 


j 


M- <iMI" WM— ^^^— ^^^K». - ' M ^ 


^ 


^^UstpSm V^fi i^tff^^ ^KmP^^ 



DAN PATCH 1.55 AT HOME 
[By courtesy of the owner, M. W. Savage, Minneapolis, Minn.] 

Perfect Score 

Tail, attached high, well carried, i 

Thighs, muscular, 2 

Quarters, deep, heavily muscled, 2 

Gaskins, or lower thighs, wide, muscled, 2 

Hocks, clean cut, wide, straight, 8 

Cannons, short, wide, tendons large, set back 2 

Fetlocks, wide, straight, strong, I 

Pasterns, sloping, strong, lengthy, 2 
Feet, large, even size, straight, horn dense, 
dark color, sole concave, bars strong, frog 
large, elastic, heel wide, high, one half length 

of toe, 6 



TYPE IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS I59 

Perfect Score 

Legs, viewed from behind, a perpendicular line 
from the point of the buttock should fall upon 
the center of the hock, cannon, pastern and 
foot. From the side, a perpendicular line from 
the hip joint should fall upon the center of 
the foot and divide the gaskin in the middle 
and a perpendicular line from the point of the 
buttock should run parallel with the line of 
the cannon. 4 

Action. — 

Walk, smooth, quick, long, balanced, 6 

Trot, rapid, straight, regular, 4 

Total, 100 

Type in light horses. — Light horses are commonly 
divided into three classes. These are the roadster, saddle 
and carriage types. In the pure form they are represented 
in the standard trotter or pacer, in the standard saddle horse 
and in the various breeds of coach horses. Because of 
variations in type more or less pronounced, it will not be 
possible to present a scale of points that will furnish an ab- 
solute guide for the selection of the various classes of light 
horses. Nevertheless they have in common certain essen- 
tial characteristics which may thus be given. These have 
been well summarized by Prof. John A. Craig, and are 
now submitted : — 



Scale of points for gelding light horses. 

Goicral appearance. — Perfect Score 

Form, symmetrical, smooth, stylish, 4 

Quality, bone clean, firm, and indicating suffi- 
cient substance, tendons defined, hair and skin 
fine, 4 

Temperament, active, kind disposition, 4 

Head and neck. — 

Head, lean, straight, I 



l6o FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Perfect Score 

Muzzle, fine, nostrils large, lips thin, even, 
teeth sound, i 

Eyes, full, bright, clear, large, i 

Forehead, broad, full, i 

Ears, medium size, pointed, well carried, and 
not far apart, i 

Neck, muscled, crest high, throatlatch fine, 
windpipe large, i 

Fore quarters. — 

Shoulders, long, smooth, with muscle oblique, 
extending into back, 2 

Arms, short, thrown forward, I 

Forearms, muscled, long, wide, 2 

Knees, clean, wide, straight, deep, strongly 
supported, 2 

Cannons, short, wide, sinews large, set back 2 
Fetlocks, wide, straight, i 

Pasterns, strong." angle with ground 45 de- 
grees, 3 
Feet, medium, even size, straight, horn dense, 
frog large, elastic, bars strong, sole concave, 
heel wide, 6 
Legs, viewed in front, a perpendicular line 
from the point of the shoulder should fall up- 
on the center of the knee, cannon, pastern and 
foot. From the side a perpendicular line 
dropping from the center of the elbow joint 
should fall upon the center of the knee and 
pastern joints and back of hoof, 4 

Body. — 

Withers, muscled and well finished at top, i 

Chest, deep, low, large girth. 2 

Ribs, long, sprung, close, 2 

Back, straight, short, broad, muscle.., 2 

Loin, wide, short, thick. 2 

Underline, long, flank let down, i 



TYPE IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS l6l 

Hind quarters. — Perfect score 

Hips, smooth, wide, level, 2 

Croup, long-, wide, muscula., 2 

Tail, attached high, well carried, i 

Thighs, long, muscular, spread, open angled, 2 
Quarters, heavily muscled, deep, 2 

Gaskin or lower thighs, long, wide, muscular, 2 
Hocks, clearly defined, wide, straight, 5 

Cannons, short, wide ; sinews, large, set back, 2 
Fetlocks, wide, straight, I 

Pasterns, strong, sloping, 2 

Feet, medium, even size, straight, horn dense, 
frog large, elastic, bars strong, sole concave, 
heel wide, high, 4 

Legs, viewed from behind, a perpendicular 
line from the point of the buttock should fall 
upon the center of the hock, cannon, pastern 
and foot. From the side a perpendicular line 
from the hip joint should fall upon the center 
of the foot and divide the gaskin in the middle 
and a perpendicular line from the point of the 
buttock should run parallel with the line of the 
cannon, 4 

Iction. — 
Walk, elastic, quick, balanced, 5 

Trot, rapid, straight, regular, high, 15 



Total 100 

Type in general purpose horses. — Since general pur- 
pose horses have l)een variously bred and usually in a sort 
of aimless way, that is without any very distinctly defined 
purpose in view, it could not be otherwise than that the 
horses of this class should vary greatly. Some will be so 
heavy as to constitute what may be termed light draught 
horses and some so light as to carry no more weight than 



1 62 



FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 




DAN PATCH, THE WORLD S RECORD PACER 
[By courtesy of the owner, M. W. Savage, Minneapolis Minn.] 



the carnage classes. They will also vary much in con- 
formation, according to the character of the grade or cross 
used in obtaining them. Because of these differences, it is 
scarcely possible to present a scale of points at the present 
time that would be of much service in describing horses of 
this class. 



CHAPTER X. 
PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN FEEDING. 

The discussion in Chapter X relates to the principles 
that govern the feeding of animals with reference to the 
chemical constituents which feeds possess, as adapted to the 
class and age of animals to which they are to be fed and the 
precise objects for which they are maintained. It differs 
from the discussion in Part I in that it is specific while the 
former is general. The principles in this chapter relate to 
furnishing feeds that will contain the nutrients which they 
must have in due proportion if the end sought is to be 
reached. 

In theory, these principles have all the strength of law, 
but in practice it is very frequently not possible to apply 
them so that the results sought or that should be expected 
from such feeding, will follow, owing to the subtle influ- 
ences that frequently result from environment, from inter- 
nal causes that cannot always be discerned, and from varia- 
tions resulting from the physiological influence of feeds 
apart from the nutrients they contain as given by chemical 
analysis. 

The elementary substances necessary to the growth 
of plants are essentially the same as the chemical elements 
of the animal body. These are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, 
nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magne- 
sium and iron. In addition to these are chlorine and so- 
dium, the elements of common salt. These elements do not 
exist simply but are united into numberless compounds, 
both organic and inorganic. For convenience of reference, 
they are classified as nitrogenous or non-nitrogenous, ac- 
cording as the chemical compounds of which they are com- 
posed contain nitrogen or do not contain nitrogen. The 
water in foods must also be considered, but this is not so 

163 



l64 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

important, since water can be supplied. These elements 
exist in varying degrees in plants and in the same plant at 
different stages of development, and similarly they differ in 
the degree of the digestibility which they possess. The de- 
gree in which they are present and also the degree of the 
digestibility which they possess, can only be determined by 
chemical analysis, hence the necessity for tables of feeding 
stuffs, which the feeder may consult when preparing or 
feeding foods. The proportions in which these elements 
should be supplied to animals also varies with the class of 
the animal, the age, the performance and the object for 
which it is kept. The adaptation of food to the needs of the 
animals to which it is to be fed virtually constitutes the 
great art of feeding. 

For convenience in reference, certain definitions per- 
taining first to the feeds themselves and second to the meth- 
ods of blending or compounding them for feeding, have 
come into common use. These are all considered in Chap- 
ter X. The definitions which pertain to feeds include the 
terms: (i) Food nutrient; (2) food factor or feeding stuff; 
(3) food or feeding ration and (4) table of feeding stuffs. 
Those which pertain to the blending or compounding of 
feeds, include the terms: (i) Nutritive ratio; (2) feeding 
standard and (3) table of feeding standards. Familiarity 
with these terms and the ability to reduce to practice what 
is implied in them, should prove helpful to all persons en- 
gaged in growing stock. 

Food nutrient. — A food nutrient is any single chem- 
ical compound capable of being assimilated by the body, for 
the purpose of producing new tissue, either for new growth 
or to replace that which is worn out. The body is com- 
posed of: (i) Nitrogenous organic substance; (2) non- 
nitrogenous organic substance and (3) mineral substance. 
Since a food nutrient in order to permit of easy assimila- 
tion, must in its composition be identical with the substances 
normally found in the body, the nutrients may be classified 
very similarly to the classification of the substances of the 



PRINCIPLES " THAT GOVERN FEEDING 165 

body as given above. They are, therefore : ( i ) Nitrog- 
enous organic substances; (2) non-nitrogenous organic 
substances and (3) mineral or inorganic substances. Al- 
bumen, the essential constituent of the white of egg, is an 
example of a nitrogenous nutrient, starch of a non-nitrog- 
enous nutrient, and common salt of a mineral or inorganic 
nutrient. Nutrients are seldom found in an unmixed state, 
but are generally combined in one fodder. 

Food factor or feeding stuff. — The term food factor 
or feeding stuff is any natural or artificial product used as 
food for animals. Food factors usually contain two or 
more nutrients intimately blended but in varying propor- 
tions and also more or less substance that is indigestible and 
which, therefore, cannot be appropriated by the animal to 
which the food is fed. Feeding stuifs may be roughly clas- 
sified as nitrogenous or non-nitrogenous according as the or- 
ganic nutrients are more largely of one kind or the other. 
In nearly all instances they contain a sufficiency of mineral 
nutrients, the exceptions being common salt and in some in- 
stances ash and phosphate of lime. 

The principal nitrogenous constituents of feeding stuffs 
are the albuminoids, as legumin, the nitrogenous constituent 
of peas, beans and clover, and gluten, the nitrogenous 
constituent of wheat. Likewise the nitrogenous substances 
of the body consist largely of albuminoids. So in- 
trinsically important are they, that all the manifestations of 
animal life are dependent on them and on the organs which 
are composed of them. They also furnish the materials 
out of which the other important groups of nitrogenous 
substances are formed; viz., the gelatinoids and the horny 
matters. 

The albuminoids are found under various manifesta- 
tions in all the organs and fluids of the healthy body except 
the urine and they form the chief constituents of their com- 
position. Nearly all the vital processes of the body have for 
their object the effecting of changes upon the form, location 



l66 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

or function of the albuminoid material. The principal al- 
buminoids of the body are albumen, found in nearly all its 
fluids, flesh fibrin, the chief constituents of muscular fibre, 
blood fibrin, the essential element of the clotting part of 
blood, and casein, the constituent of milk which forms the 
basis of cheese. The gelatinoids form the nitrogenous sub- 
stance of the bones and cartilages and also make up the 
larger part of the tendons, ligaments, connective tissue and 
the skin. The horny matters, which differ but little in chem- 
ical composition from the albuminoids or gelatinoids, are 
found chiefly on the outer surfaces of the body, that is, in 
the epidermis or scarf skin, the hair, the wool, the horns 
and the hoofs. The chemical composition of these three 
groups of nitrogenous substances is practically the same, 
and what is exceedingly important in this connection, the 
same chemical composition will hold good with respect to 
the nitrogenous substances found in foods. The further 
discussion of the many and exceedingly important functions 
of the nitrogenous substance in the animal body cannot be 
carried further in this work. 

The principal non-nitrogenous constituents of feed- 
ing stuffs are cellulose, starch, sugar, gum, fat, oil and the 
various vegetable acids. These are classified as carbohy- 
drates and fat. The carbohydrates, composed principally 
of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, include cellulose, starch, 
sugar, gum and the vegetable acids. The fat and oil are 
generally considered together as fat. The non-nitrogenous 
constituents of plants may, therefore, be considered as be- 
ing carbohydrates or fats. But a part of the cellulose of 
plants often becomes hardened into a more or less indigesti- 
ble fibrous condition. This is commonly separated from the 
remaining carbohydrates in the table of feeding stuffs (see 
p. 175) and placed in a class by itself as crude fibre. The 
non-nitrogenous substance also includes the ash, that is, the 
inorganic or mineral part which remains after the plant has 
been consumed by fire. These all play a more or less impor- 
tant part in the economy of animal growth and production. 



TRIXCirLES THAT GOVERN FEEDING 167 

Fat is the most abundant by far of the non-nitrogenous 
organic substances of the animal body. It is found in vari- 
ous parts of the same, in some places as minute particles 
and in others as special deposits of considerable quantity. 
The sources of fat in the body are, first, the fat in the food ; 
second, the albuminoids or nitrogenous substance in the 
food, and third, the carbohydrates in the same. Whether 
the carbohydrates are direct sources of body fat is uncer- 
tain, but indirectly they certainly are. The presence of ani- 
mal fat in the animal body has the efifect of decreasing the 
protein consumption and of retarding the tendency to nitro- 
gen equilibrium. 

Protein consumption means the removal of that por- 
tion of the nitrogenous substance, that is protein, taken into 
the body and digested through oxidation and the excretion 
of worn out nitrogenous tissue. 

Nitrogen equilibrium is that principle which inheres in 
the animal body through which it eventually puts itself into 
equilibrium with the nitrogenous constituents which it re- 
ceives in its food above what is necessary to maintain it in an 
average condition. This question, significant in its bearing on 
practical feeding, cannot be elaborated further in this work. 

The following are chief among the influences which fat 
in the food exerts : ( i ) It decreases protein consumption 
and thereby increases protein deposition. Protein deposi- 
tion means the retention and use of that portion of the ni- 
trogenous food consumed and digested which remains in 
the body for a longer or shorter time. It is assimilated as 
new nitrogenous tissue or as tissue which has replaced old 
worn out or waste nitrogenous tissue. (2) It decreases the 
protein consumption in the body and it does so indepen- 
dently of the protein supply. The protein consumption in- 
creases and diminishes with the protein supply in the food, 
and all that the fat does is to diminish it by a certain quan- 
tity, which will be the same no matter how large the protein 
supply in the food may be. (3) Like fat in the body it re- 
tards the tendency to nitrogen equilibrium. Its presence in 



1 68 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

the food favors the formation out of the protein supply of 
stable tissue, in place of part of the circulatory protein, 
which means to some extent increase in flesh. Circulatory 
protein is that portion of the nitrogenous substance taken 
from the food which remains for a time in the blood, await- 
ing either conversion into stable flesh tissue, or oxidation 
and decomposition into the fluids of the excretory organs. 
In well-fed animals, it causes what is called the juiciness of 
the flesh. 

It should also be remembered that while the presence 
of fat in small quantities is favorable to the formation of 
flesh, in large quantities it is injurious, since it disturbs the 
digestion and thus impairs the appetite. Therefore, the 
ordinary feeding stuffs fed to farm animals should contain 
but little fat. 

The influence of carbohydrates in the food on the 
formation of flesh is very similar to that of fat in the same. 
Prominent among these influences are the following : ( i ) 
Carbohydrates in the food decrease the protein consump- 
tion and thereby increase the protein deposition (see p. 167) 
the protein consumption depending as regards quantity 
solely on the protein supply. (2) They retard the tendency 
toward nitrogen equilibrium and therefore cause a longer 
continued gain of flesh than would be affected by nitroge- 
nous foods alone. 

The carbohydrates are helpful in promoting growth, 
in producing fat, and in generating heat so necessary to the 
maintenance in healthy action of all the functions of the 
body. Experience has shown that the greatest gain of flesh 
is made when the -proportion of carbohydrates in the food 
fed is large. In regard to flesh formation they produce 
about the same results as fat and are much cheaper, hence 
they should be fed to the greatest extent possible instead of 
fat, except in such instances as when it is necessary to feed 
fat in the food because of its greater power to produce heat 
(see p. 177). They are much more abundant than protein 
in foods and, therefore, cheaper than this element also, hence 



PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN FEEDING 169 

their free use in feeding stuffs tends to cheapen the ration. 
Moreover, they are readily eaten and digested by all the ani- 
mals of the farm. And yet a sufficiency of protein must be 
fed since the nitrogenous substances constitute so large a 
proportion of the animal body, since many of the vital proc- 
esses are dependent on them, and since they are so neces- 
sary to performance as in the production of flesh, milk and 
muscular exertion. 

Crude fibre is that tough woody portion of the plant 
which constitutes its framework. It is the portion that re- 
mains after the softer parts have been dissolved and washed 
out. Young plants contain considerably less of crude fibre 
than those which have produced seeds, and the seeds of 
plants also contain much less than the stems and leaves. 
It is not easily digested, especially by animals which do not 
ruminate. The portion digested is thought to have prac- 
tically the same function as the other digestible carbohy- 
drates, and is supposed to equal them in value. The indi- 
gestible portion, oftentimes a tax upon the digestion, may 
sometimes serve a useful purpose in the bulk which it fur- 
nishes. 

Ash, the inorganic portion of plants and of animal bod- 
ies, is that part which remains after either has been con- 
sumed by flame. In plants it is most abundant in the leaves. 
These mineral matters are usually amply present in all foods 
to meet the needs of animals, with the exception of salt, 
which must be supplied. In the form of lime and phosphate 
they go to make bone, as soda and chlorine they aid the di- 
gestive juices, and as iron they probably help in the forma- 
tion of the red corpuscles in the blood. For reasons that 
will be manifest young and growing animals need them in 
largest supply. 

Importance of nitrogenous substances. — From what 
has been said, it will be apparent that the nitrogenous sub- 
stances of the body are by far the most important since they 
include nearly all the solid parts except the fat and the min- 
eral constituents of the bones. Therefore, for the sake of 



170 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

brevity, it is usual to speak of all the nitrogenous substance 
of the body as flesh, as distinguished from fat and bone. 
For a similar reason the word fat is used to denote all the 
non-nitrogenous substance of the body, both the real fat 
and the other substance. Likewise the word bone is fre- 
quently used to denote only the mineral constituents of 
bone, although much of the substance of bone is nitroge- 
nous organic matter. The flesh of the animal body is also 
referred to as protein substance and the fat as non-protein 
substance. It should be remembered that these various 
terms are only close approximations to the truth. 

The discussion of the various food factors in feeding 
stuffs should not close without some reference to their 
functions in producing heat and in sustaining muscular ex- 
ertion. The influence which they exert on milk production 
is touched upon elsewhere (see p. 413). 

Heat in the animal body results from the constant proc- 
ess of oxidation or burning of waste tissue and of food sub- 
stance which is going on everywhere in every part of the 
body to which the blood reaches. The heat supply is de- 
pendent on the food supply, for the tissues that are oxidized 
or burned come orignially from the -food. This oxidation is 
maintained with no gain of substance but of loss, as the 
products of the combustion, carbonic acid gas, water and 
urea must be gotten rid of by the excretory organs. It is 
estimated that of the whole quantity of food eaten by an 
animal for maintenance about four-fifths are required to 
sustain the demand occasioned by the production of heat. 

Since the nitrogenous substance, the fats, and the car- 
bohydrates of the food are all oxidizable, they may be all 
used as sources of heat. But the fats and the carbohy- 
drates are the most suitable since their oxidation in the 
blood is much more readily effected than that of the ni- 
trogenous substance. They are also on the whole much 
cheaper, as previously intimated (see p. 168). 

Regulation of animal heat. — How the heat of the ani- 
mal body is regulated cannot be discussed here. But in 



PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN FEEDING I7I 

passing it may be said that the following are chief among 
the influences concerned in such regulation : ( i ) The kind 
and amounts of the food fed; (2) the temperature to which 
animals are exposed; (3) the warming of food and drink 
taken into the stomach; (4) the amount of the muscular ex- 
ertion allowed or demanded; (5) the conduction and radia- 
tion of heat from the skin; and (6) the evaporation of 
water from the skin and lungs. 

Muscular exertion may be classed as external and in- 
ternal. The former is the muscular exertion called for in 
effecting the movements concerned in the various vital 
processes within the body. The latter is the muscular exer- 
tion called for by animals when exercising or performing 
physical work. The relation between these is very close. 
Of whatever kind it may be, it calls for a constant supply of 
heat to maintain it, and the greater the exertion, of course 
the greater the supply of heat demanded. Of course this 
heat must all come directly or indirectly from the food. Be- 
yond this, the relation between food supply and muscular 
exertion is not well understood. It is certain, however, that 
the food given to the animal to support muscular exertion 
must be something more than fuel, that is, it must be partly 
nitrogenous and it must be liberal in supply. Stated in sum- 
mary : ( I ) Muscular exertion is dependent on the food sup- 
ply; (2) the greater the exertion to be made, the greater 
must the food supply be; (3) the greater the exertion, the 
greater also must be the proportion of the nitrogenous sub- 
stance in the food. 

Food or feeding ration. — The term food or feeding ra- 
tion more commonly means a combination of the food fac- 
tors used in feeding animals in any given instance, but 
sometimes it may mean but one food factor. When the 
proportion of the nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous nutri- 
ents are present in a food ration in that degree that will 
best effect the ends sought when fed, it is said to be in bal- 
ance (see p. 172). When not fed in balance waste in some 



172 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

of the nutrients will follow since they cannot be all re- 
sorbed into the system, and energy is taxed in removing 
the excess from the same. Nor can that happy equilibrium 
in the process of digestion, assimilation and excretion be 
attained, which is necessary to the best utilization of all the 
food fed unless it is in balance, not only in its nutrients but 
in the proportion of the bulk that accompanies the nutrients. 
The definition of a balanced ration usually considers only the 
balance of digestible nutrients, while the balance in bulk 
and concentration may be of but little less importance. Cer- 
tain foods have also a physiological influence in addition to 
the nutrients they contain. The comprehensive definition, 
therefore, of a balanced ration may be made to read thus : 
A balanced ration is one in which the bulk and concentrates, 
the nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous nutrients, and the 
physiological influence which these exert in addition to their 
food value, are present in that degree which will best pro- 
duce the results sought from feeding them. The great im- 
portance, therefore, of feeding foods in at least approxi- 
mate balance is very evident. 

Information regarding the balancing of rations is ob- 
tained from two sources ; viz., from the experience of feeders 
and from a table of feeding standards (see p. 184). The first 
of these sources is by no means to be despised, as an old 
and experienced feeder, without any knowledge of feeding 
standards, will frequently take foodstuffs and, guided only 
by his own judgment, will obtain superior results from feed- 
ing them to those obtained by the inexperienced feeder who 
blends them in exact accord with what is called for in the 
feeding standards. This result may not follow from any 
error in the standards, but from the presence or absence of 
the physiological influences referred to above, or because of 
lack of equilibrium between the bulk and nutrition, or from 
both causes combined. Notwithstanding, a knowledge of 
feeding standards and of the way in which they may be util- 
ized in feeding will always be of great service to those en- 
gaged in this work, because of the wide range of its general 



PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN FEEDING ^173 

practical application. The feeder who gains his knowledge 
only through experience and from tradition, is long in gath- 
ering it, and his knowledge of compounding rations is usu- 
ally confined to the productions of but limited areas. 

The definition of a feeding ration does not necessarily 
call for a balanced food. Nor does it imply that more than 
one kind of food shall be used. Grass pasture, though it 
may embrace but one variety of grass, is none the less a 
food ration than one formed by blending any number of 
foods. In some instances a single food may make a bal- 
anced ration quite as effectively as a combination of foods, 
since it may contain within it, not only the requisite propor- 
tions of both nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous constituents 
to effect a given end, but it may also contain the requisite 
bulk that should accompany the feeding of the nutrients. 

Table of feeding stuffs. — receding stuffs vary greatly 
in their nutritive constituents, that is, they vary in the total 
dry matter which they contain and in the proportion of the 
nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous factors, as carbohy- 
drates, fat and crude fibre, and in the proportions of these 
that are digestible. They also vary in the relative propor- 
tions of mineral matter which they contain, and in the pro- 
portion of the nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous factors, as 
protein, carbohydrates, fat and crude fibre, and in the pro- 
portions of these that are digestible. They further vary 
in the relative proportions of mineral matter which they 
contain. Information regarding the relative amounts of 
each of these factors have been obtained through analyses 
made by the chemist of the various foodstuffs, and of the 
proportions of the nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous factors 
digestible in each instance. The proportion of these that 
are digestible have been obtained from chemical analyses 
based upon actual experience in feeding the respective foods. 
The great value of such information to the practical feeder 
will be at once apparent. These proportions are stated in 
percentages, and for convenience of reference are collected 
and given in tables in orderly sequence. Such a collection 
is known as a table of feedins: stuffs. Brieflv then, a table 



174^ FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

of feeding stuffs is a table giving the chemical constituents 
of food expressed in percentages. In some instances these 
tables only give the relative proportions of the various fac- 
tors that are digestible. In others the total percentages of 
each factor is also given. 

It should be remembered, however, that these tables 
are only to be taken as general guides. The chemist and 
the scientist can ascertain the proportionate percentages of 
nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous constituents in a feeding 
stuff or in the feeding stuffs fed in a given instance. But the 
following influences among others that may be named lead 
to variation : ( i ) Plants of the same variety differ in the 
nutrients which they contain at different stages of growth 
and of maturity. (2) These percentages vary with the 
inherent character of the soils on which the plants have been 
grown, with the manures applied or withheld, and with the 
cultivation given. (3) They further vary with the time and 
method of harvesting, with the degree and nature of the ex- 
posure while curing and in some instances in the way in 
which they are prepared for feeding. Moreover, (4) the 
various classes of animals differ in their ability to digest and 
assimilate foods, more especially the crude fibre, and the 
same is true of individual animals of the same class. These 
tables, therefore, are only to be taken as approximate esti- 
mates of the nutrients \yhich the foods contain. But they 
are reasonably close approximations since with the more im- 
portant at least of the foods the constituents submitted are 
the averages of a number of analyses and their digestibility 
as stated represents as a rule the average of a number of 
feeding trials. 

Table of feeding stuffs. — Feeding stuffs vary greatly 
in the more important feeding stuffs mentioned in this work 
is now submitted and also their digestibility as far as both 
could be obtained from American sources. This table is 
based on the composition of feeding stuffs as given in the 
revised edition of Farmer's Bulletin No. 22 issued by the U. 
S. Department of Agriculture. Those who desire to follow 
the subject further are referred to this bulletin. The figures 



PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN FEEDING 175 

giving the digestibility of the various feeding stuffs submit- 
ted are based chiefly upon the digestion trials conducted by 
the experiment stations and compiled by Lindsay in the re- 
port of the Massachusetts (Hatch) Experiment Station for 
1896. 

Table I. 

CI\ IXC. THE COXSTITUEXTS OF THE ORDIXAUY FEEDING STl'FFS AND 
OF THEIR AVERAGE DIGESTIBILITY. 
Note 1. The figures printed In ordinary type show the percentage 
of composition of each constituent. 

Note 2. The figures below in each instance slfow the percent- 
age of these quantities that are digestible. 



Cured fodders -a a; 

rt eg 

Eh 
Red clover hay 78.2 

61 
Alsike clover hay.... 90.3 

62 
Crimson clover hay 90.4 

62 
White clover hay... 90.3 

66 
Alfalfa hay ....9L6 

60 

Cowpea hay S'.t.."? 

•■ 59 

Vetch hay 88.7 

65^ 
Sov bean hay 88.7 

62 
Timothy hay 86.8 

57 
Orchard grass hay tK).l 

56 
Red top hay 91.3 

60 
Millet hay 92.3 

65 
Corn fodder 57.8 

68 
Corn stover 59.5 

60 
Sorghum fodder 20.6 

67 
Rye straw 92.9 

46 
Wheat straw 90.4 

43 
Barley straw 85.8 

53 
Oat straw 90.8 

48 







.Q a> 










tctc i* 










m*" !^ 






2-Q U 


u 

■*-' 


ydrat 
than 
gen f 

ct) 








rboh 
ther 
nitro 
xtra* 


-a 
3 


^ 


— »3 


rt V 


rt c -■1' 


u 


Vi 


^ 


fa 


U 


U 


< 


12.4 


4.5 


33.8 


21.9 


6.6 


62 


62 


69 


49 




12.8 


2.9 


40:7 


25.6 


8.3 


66 


50 


71 


53 




1.5.2 


2.8 


36.6 


27.2 


8.6 


69 


44 


62 


45 




1.5.7 


2.9 


39.3 


24.1 


8.3 


73 


51 


70 


61 




14.3 


2.2 


42.7 


25.0 


7.4 


74 


39 


66 


43 




IC.ti 


2.2 


42.2 


20.1 


7.5 


65 


50 


71 


43 




17.0 


2.3 


36.1 


25.4 


7.9 


76 


65 


66 


54 




1.5.4 


5.2 


38.6 


22.3 


7.2 


71 


29 


69 


61 




5.9 


2.5 


45.0 


29.0 


4.4 


48 


57 


63 


52 




8.1 


2.ti 


41.0 


32.4 


C.O 


60 


55 _ 


55 


61 




8.9 


2.7 


46.4 


29.9 


4.9 


61 


51 


62 


61 




7.5 


2.1 


49.0 


27.7 


6.0 


60 


64 


67 


68 




4.5 


1.6 


34.7 


14.3 


2.7 


53 


76 


74 


52 




3.8 


1.1 


31.5 


19.7 


3.4 


45 


62 


61 


67 




1.3 


0.5 


11.6 


6.1 


LI 


46 


74 


74 


59 




3.0 


1.2 


46.6 


38.9 


3.2 


21 


32 


37 


60 




3.4 


1.3 


43.4 


38.1 


42 


11 


31 


38 


52 




3.5 


1.5 


39.0 


36.0 


5.7 


20 


-"2 


54 


56 




4.0 


2.3 


42.4 


37.0 


5.1 


30 


33 


44 


54 





176 



FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



Table I — Continued 



Food from cereals >> 
and other seeds ^ fe 

Eh 
Wheat 89.5 

72 
Oats 89.0 

70 
Barlev 89.1 

86 
Rye 88.4 

87 
Peas 89.5 

87 
Cottonseed 90.9 

66 
Flax 90.8 

77 
Dent corn 89.4 

91 



By Products 



Wheat bran 88.5 

61 
Wheat middlings ..87.9 

79 
Brewers' grains, wet 24.3 

63 
Brewers' grains, dry 92.0 

62 
Malt sprouts 89.8 

67 
Corn and cob meal ..84.9 

79 
Gluten meal 91.4^- 

87 
Gluten feed 92.2 

84 
Oil cake, old process 90.8 

79 
Oil c'ke, new pr'cess 90.1 

80 
Cottonseed meal 91.8 

76 
Cottonseed hulls ....88.9 

41 
Whole cow's milk... 12. 8 



^^ 

tic to o 
?^ b 
t 35 
■~ m 

11.9 
70 
11.8 
78 
12,4 
70 
10.6 
84 
20.2 
83 
19.6 
68 
22.6 
91 
10.3 
76 



2 '^ 

3 a 
o w 



16.1 
79 
15.6 
82 

5.4 
73 
24.1 
79 
23.2 
80 

8.5 
52 
30.0 
88 
23.4 
85 
32.9 
89 
35.9 
85 
42.3 
88 

4.2 

6 

3.6 
94 



•CQ 



2.1 
60 

5.0 
83 

1.8 
89 

1.7 
64 

1.2 
55 
20.1 
87 
33.7 
86 

5.0 



4.5 
68 

4.0 
85 

1.6 
86 

6.7 
91 

1.7 
100 

3.5 
84 

8.8 
93 

8.3 
83 

7.9 
89 

3.0 
93 
13.1 
93 

2.2 
79 

3.7 
100 



'S'S C <^^ 

>' !-. O 

o 0) J; ^ t, 

ctf oC too) 
O 

71.9 

74 

59.7 

76 

69.8 

92 

72.5 

92 

51.1 

94 

28.3 

50 

23.2 

55 

70.4 

93 

01 

u 
o 0) 

>> Mo 

t- o C X 
O 



a 
1.8 

30 

9.5 
20 

2.7 
50 

1.7 

14.4 
26 
18.9 
76 

7.1 
61 

2.2 
58 



< 
1.8 

3.0 

2.4 

1.9 

2.6 

4.0 

4.3 

1.5 








< 


54.5 


8.0 


5.4 


69 


22 * 




60.4 


4.6 


3.3 


85 


36 




12.5 


3.8 


1.0 


62 


40 




44.8 


13.0 


3.4 


59 


53 




48.5 


10.7 


5.7 


69 


34 




64.8 


6.6 


1.5 


88 


45 




49.2 


2.6 


0.8 


88 







53.2 


6.2 


1.1 


87 


72 




35.4 


8.9 


5.7 


78 


57 




36.8 


8.8 


56 


84 


74 




23.6 


5.6 


7.2 


64 


32 




33.4 


46.3 


2.8 


34 


47 




4.9 


— 


0.7 



PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN FEEDING I77 

Table I — Continued 

o i; s o 

Field roots , gS ^^^-cgt; _^ 

and tubers Cu c ^| x^tog c 

iss 25 «t? -gS-Hs: -^ ^ 

H 15 fe '^ O "<! 

Sugar beet pulp 10.1 1.0 0.2 6.3 2.2 0.4 

82 63 — 84 83 

Mangels 8.8 L4 0.2 5.4 0.8 1.0 

79 75 — 91 43 

Sugar beets 13.3 1.5 0.1 9.9 0.9 0.8 

95 91 50 100 100 

Rutabagas 11.4 L2 0.2 7.5 1.3 L2 

87 80 84 95 74 

Turnips 9.4 1.3 0.2 5.9 1.2 0.8 

93 90 98 97 100 

Potatoes 21.3 2.1 0.1 17.3 0.6 LO 

77 44 — 91 - 

Nutritive ratio. — By the term nutritive ratio is meant 
a statement of the proportion of the digestible nitrogenous 
substance in a feeding ration to the digestible proportion of 
the non-nitrogenous substance. It is obtained by dividing 
the total digestible non-nitrogenous substance in the same 
by the total digestible nitrogenous substance. The total di- 
gestible nitrogenous substance is simply the digestible pro- 
tein. The total digestible non-nitrogenous substance is the 
sum of the digestible carbohydrates other than fibre, of the 
digestible crude fibre, and of 2% times the digestible fat. 
The digestible fat is multiplied by 2>4 to place it on the 
same basis as the carbohydrates in heat production. It 
has been found that although the carbohydrates and fat are 
about equal for producing flesh, if one pound of digestible 
fat is burned under water, all the heat being conserved, it 
will raise it to the same temperature as would 2^ pounds 
of digestible carbohydrates burned under similar conditions. 
Therefore, the power to produce heat is 2^4 times greater in 
the former than in the latter, and this is true of these footi 
factors in the production of heat in the animal body. 

It will be apparent, therefore, that with a table of feed- 
ing stuffs at hand giving the relative amounts of the or- 
ganic substances in ?.ny food stuffs that are digestible, the 



1^8 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

nutritive ratio of the same may be easily computed. Take 
clover hay for instance, in the table on page 175, the total 
digestible nitrogenous substance given in this food is 
0.07688 per cent, the total digestible carbohydrates other 
than fibre as 0.23322 per cent, crude fibre as 0.10731 per cent 
and fat as 0.02790 per cent. When the fat is multiplied by 
234 and added to the carbohydrates the sum of these is 
0.40330 per cent. When this is divided by 0.07688, the total 
digestible protein, the quotient is 5.2. Therefore, the nu- 
tritive ratio in clover hay is i :5.2. When more than one 
food is combined in the ration, the digestible nitrogenous 
constituents of each must of course be taken together and 
also all the digestible non-nitrogenous constituents when 
ascertaining the nutritive ratio. 

Nutritive ratios are regarded as wide and narrow in 
proportion to relative amounts of the digestible nitrogenous 
and non-nitrogenous nutrients which they contain. One 
comparatively rich in nitrogenous substance is spoken of as 
narrow, and in non-nitrogenous substance as wide. For in- 
stance, skim milk has a nutritive ratio of i 11.63 and man- 
gels of 1 :9.2. The former represents an unusually narrow 
ratio and the latter a more than ordinarily wide one. 
Whether the ratio should be wide, narrow or intermediate 
to effect a given end is shown in the table of feeding stand- 
ards on page 184. 

The great value of the nutritive ratio to the practical 
feeder lies in the fact that it enables him to understand the 
value of the food stuffs which he may have on hand to ef- 
fect a given end. The nutritive ratio in itself would not tell 
him this, but when taken in conjunction with the facts 
given in correct feeding standards it does, as is shown on 
page 182. Similarly it serves as a guide to him in com- 
pounding food stuffs for feeding, that is, in determining the 
approximate proportions in which they shall be fed. 

Table II, given below, states in pounds the dry matter, 
the digestible food ingredients and the fuel value contained 
in 100 pounds of the feeding stuff submitted. The fuel 



PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN FEEDING I79 

value, that is the value of the food to produce heat for the 

body and energy for work is stated in calories. It is taken 

from Farmer's Bulletin No 22, U. S. Department of 
Agriculture : — 

Table II, 

GIVES THE DRY MATTER AND DIGESTIBLE FOOD INGREDIENTS IN 
100 POUNDS OB' FEEDING STUFFS. 

Total dry Pro- Carbo- Fuel 

Feeding stuff matter tein hydrates Fat value 

Green fodder: lbs lbs lbs lbs cal'ies 

Corn fodder (average of all varieties). 20.7 l.iO 12.08 0.37 26,076 

Kafir corn fodder 27.0 0.87 13.80 0.43 2<),101 

Rve fodder 23.4 2.05 14.11 0.44 31,914 

Oat fodder 37.8 2.44 17.99 0.97 42,093 

Redtop, in bloom 34.7 2.06 21.24 0.58 45,785 

Orchard grass, in bloom 27.0 1.91 15.91 0.58 35.593 

Meadow fescue, in bloom 30.1 1.49 16.78 0.42 35,755 

Timothv, at different stages 38.4 2.01 21.22 0.64 45,909 

Kentucky blue grass 34.9 2.66 17.78 0.69 40,9.30 

Hungarian grass 28.9 1.92 15.63 0.36 34.162 

Red clover, at different stages 29.2 3.07 14.82 0.69 36,187 

Crimson clover 19.3 2.16 9.31 0.44 23,191 

Alfalfa, at different stages 28.2 3.89 11.20 0.41 29,798 

Cowpea 16.4 1.68 8.08 0.25 19.209 

Soy bean 28.5 2.79 11.82 0.63 29,833 

Rape 14.3 2.16 8.65 0.32 21,457 

Corn silage (recent analyses) 25.6 1.21 14.56 0.88 33,046 

Corn fodder, field cured 57.8 2.34 32.34 1.15 69,358 

Corn stover, field cured 59.5 1.98 33.16 0.57 67,766 

Kafir corn stover, field cured 80.8 1.82 41.42 0.98 84,562 

Hay from — 

Barley 89.4 5.11 35.94 1.55 82,894 

Oats 84.0 4.07 33.35 1.67 76,649 

Orchard grass 90.1 4.78 41.99 1.40 92,900 

Redtop 91.1 4.82 46.83 0.95 100,078 

Timothv (all analvses) 86.8 2.89 43.72 1.43 92,729 

Kentucky blue grass 78.8 4.76 37.46 1.99 86,927 

Hungarian grass 92.3 4.50 51.67 1.34 110,131 

Meadow fescue 80.0 4.20 43.34 1.73 95,725 

Mixed grasses 87.1 4.22 43.26 1.33 93,925 

Rowen (mixed) 83.4 7.19 41.20 1.43 96,040 

Mixed gras.':es and clover 87.1 6.16 42.71 1.46 97,059 

Red clover S4.7 7.38 38.15 1.81 92,324 

Alsike clover 90.3 8.15 41.70 1.36 98,460 

White clover 90.3 11.46 41.82 1.48 105,346 

Crimson clover 91.4 10.49 38.13 1.29 95,877 

Alfalfa 91.6 10.58 37.33 1.38 94,936 

Cowpea 89.3 10.79 38.40 1..51 97,865 

Soy bean 88.7 10.78 38.72 1.54 98,569 

Wheat straw 90.4 0.37 36.30 0.40 69,894 

Rye straw 92.9 0.63 40.58 0.38 78,254 

Oat straw 90.8 1.20 38.64 0.76 77..310 

Soy bean straw 89.9 2.30 39.98 1.03 82,987 

Roots and tubers: 

Potatoes 21.1 1..36 16.43 — 33,089 

^eets 13.0 1.21 8.84 0.05 18,904 

Mangel-wurzels 9.1 1.03 5.65 0.11 12,889 

Turnips 9.5 0.81 6.46 0.11 1.3.986 

Rutabagas 11.4 0.88 7.74 0.11 16,497 

Carrots 11.4 0.81 7.83 0.22 16,999 



l8o FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Table II — Continued 

Total dry Pro- Carbo- Fuel 

Feeding stul matter tein hydrates Fat value 

Grains and other seeds: lbs lbs lbs lbs cal'ies 

Corn (average of dent and flint) 81.1 7.14 66.12 4.97 157 237 

Kafir corn 87.5 5.78 53.58 1.33 116,022 

Barley 89.1 8.69 64.83 1.60 143,499 

Oats 89.0 9.25 48.34 4.18 124,757 

Rye 88.4 9.12 69.73 1..36 152,400 

Wheat (all varieties) 89.5 10.23 69.21 1.6S 154,848 

Cotton seed (whole) 89.7 11.08 33.13 18.44 160,047 

Mill products: 

Corn meal 85.0 6.26 65.26 3.50 147,797 

Corn-and-cob meal 84.9 4.76 60.06 2.94 132 97'^ 

Oatmeal 92.1 11.53 52.06 5.93 143.302 

Barley meal 88.1 7.36 62.88 1.96 138,918 

Ground corn and oats, equal parts ...88.1 7.01 61.20 3 87 143 202 

Pea meal 89.5 16.77 51.78 0.65 130;24G 

Waste products: 
Gluten meal — 

Buffalo 91.8 21.56 43.02 11.87 170,210 

Chicago 90.5 33.09 39.96 4.75 155,918 

Hammond 91.9 24.90 45.72 10.16 174,228 

King 92.8 30.10 35.10 15.67 187,399 

Cream gluten (recent analyses) ....90.4 30.45 45.36 2.47 151,420 

Gluten feed (recent analyses) 91.9 19.95 54.22 5.35 160 533 

Buffalo (recent analyses) 91.0 22.88 51.71 2.89 150,933 

Rockford (Diamond) 91.3 20.38 54.71 3.82 155 788 

Hominy chops 88.9 8.43 61.01 7.06 158',952 

Malt sprouts 89.8 18.72 43.50 1.16 120,624 

Brewers' grains (wet) 24.3 4.00 9.37 1.38 30,692 

Brewers' grains (dried) 92.0 19.04 31.79 6.03 119,990 

Distillery grains (dried), principally 

corn 93.0 21.93 38.09 10.83 157,340 

Distillery grains (dried), principally 

rye 93.2 10.38 42.48 6.38 125,243 

Atlas gluten feed (distillery by- 
product) 92.6 23.33 35.64 11.88 159,818 

Rye bran 88.2 11.47 52.40 1.79 126,352 

Wheat bran, all analyses 88.5 12.01 41.23 2.87 111,138 

Wheat bran, (all analyses) 88.5 12.01 41.23 2.87 111,138 

Wheat middlings 84.0 12.79 53.15 3.40 136',996 

Wheat shorts 88.2 12.22 40.98 3.83 131,855 

Buckwheat bran 88.5 19.29 31.65 4.56 113,992 

Buckwheat middlings 88.2 22.34 36.14 6.21 134.979 

Cottonseed feed 92.0 9.65 38.-57 3.37 103,911 

Cottonseed meal 91.8 37.01 16.52 12.5o 152,653 

Cottonseed hulls 88.9 1.05 32.21 1.89 69,839 

Linseed meal (old process) 90.8 28.76 32.81 7.06 144,313 

Linseed meal (new process) 90.1 30.59 38.72 2.90 141.155 

Sugar beet pulp (fresh) 10.1 0.63 7.12 — 14,415 

Sugar beet pulp (dry) 93.6 G.80 65.40 — 134,459 

Milk and its by-products: 

Whole milk 12.8 3.38 4.80 3.70 30,829 

Skim milk, cream raised by setting . . 9.6 3.10 4.61 0.90 18.139 

Skim milk, cream raised bv separator. 9.4 3.01 5.10 0.30 16,351 

Buttermilk 9.0 2.82 4.70 0.50 16.09? 

Whey 6.2 0.56 5.00 0.10 10,764 

Feeding standard. — A feeding standard is a statement 
of the proportionate amounts of digestible nitrogenous and 

non-nitrogenous substance which experience has shown to 



PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN FEEDING 161 

be best suited to effect a given purpose in feeding. 
The purposes sought are such as maintenance or the 
production of flesh, of fat, of milk or of work. For 
the sake of precision it is usual to state these amounts 
as proportions or ratios, and when so expressed they are 
spoken of as the nutritive ratio resulting from the foods 
used in the feeding standards. A feeding standard differs 
from a nutritive ratio in giving the proportionate amounts 
of the digestible food factors found in the foods selected 
from which to form the ration, which experience has shown 
to be best suited to the purpose, whereas the nutritive ratio 
is simply a statement of the relation which these bear to one 
another. The first relates to foods and their chemical con- 
stituents, whereas the latter relates to the quantitative rela- 
tion which these bear to one another. 

The following is an example of a feeding standard that 
has been found suitable for the sufficient maintenance of 
cattle at rest, that is, cattle neither doing work nor laying 
on flesh or fat. The amounts are calculated per day and per 
looo pounds live weight. 

Digestible nitrogenous substance, 
" carbohydrates, 

fat, 

Total nutritive substance, 9.10 " 

carbohydrates and fat 8.4 " 

Nutritive ratio, i :i2 

Total organic dry matter required, 17.5 " 

In regard to the above it will be noticed : ( i ) That the 
ratio is a wide one and for the reason that the animal is at 
rest. Had the same animal been producing, the ratio would 
have to be narrowed, that is, it would have to contain a 
much larger proportion of nitrogenous substance, and the 
total amount of nutritive dry substance required would 



0.7 pour 


ids 


8.25 " 




0.15 " 





l82 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

have to be greater. (2) That the standard supposes a mod- 
erately warm stable. Exposure to cold would call for the 
use of more carbohydrates as fuel food. (3) That the to- 
tal amount of dry matter required by the standard should 
be bulky, which means that it may contain a considerable 
proportion of crude fibre. (4) That the quantities of the 
food factors fed are calculated for an animal of 1000 
pounds weight, which implies that with variation in the 
weight of the animals, the quantities fed would vary, but 
not necessarily in exact proportion to the variations in 
weight, since smaller animals require in proportion more 
food than large ones owing to the greater proportionate 
loss of heat in them. (5) That if the animals were being 
fattened, the proportion of digestible fat in the food should 
be increased, but not to the extent of disturbing digestion. 

The explanation now follows of how such a ration may 
be compounded. Being a wide one it will be low in protein 
and must also be bulky. Such a ration is likely to result 
from straw alone or from straw and some hay. Since it is 
to be fed to animals at rest, it is important that it shall be 
inexpensive and, therefore, that the proportion of straw fed 
shall not be large. Suppose that the feeder has both. He 
knows that he requires about 17.5 pound? of to^-il dry or- 
ganic matter (see p. 181). By consulting the table of feed- 
ing stuffs on page 175 a little calculation will show him that 
about 21 or 22 pounds of these feeding stuffs will give him 
approximately that amount if he uses about twice as much 
straw as hay. This he ought to do to make the ration 
inexpensive. 

He tries, say 15 pounds of oat straw and 7 pounds 
of clover hay and the problem works out as follows : 

15 pounds of oat straw would yield 

15x90.8-100 pounds of dry matter or 13.620 pounds 

7 pounds of clover hay would yield 

7x78.2-100 pounds of dry matter or, 5.474 " 



I'RINCIl'LKS THAT C.OVKRN FEEDING 183 

Total dry matter in the ration, 19.094 " 
Again : 

15 pounds of oat straw would yield 

15x4-100x30-100 of digestible ni- 
trogenous substances or, O.1800 " 
7 pounds of clover hay would yield 

7x12.4-100x62-100 of digestible 

nitrogenous substance or, 0.53816 " 

Total amount of digestible nitrog- 

enous substance, 0.71816 " 
Similarly, the 15 pounds of oat straw will yield: 

Digestible fat .11385x2^4 0.25616 " 

Digestible carbohydrates other 

than fibre, 2.79840 " 

Digestible fibre, 2.99700 " 

Total amount of digestible non-ni- 

trogenous substance in the straw, 6.05156 " 
And the 7 pounds of clover hay will yield : 

Digestible fat, .19530x234, 0.43942 " 

Digestible carbohydrates other 

than fibre, 1.63254 " 

Digestible fibre, 0.751 17 " 



Total amount of digestible non-ni- 
trogenous substance in the hay. 2.82313 " 

Therefore, the total amount of the digestible non-ni- 
trogenous substance in the ration is 8.87460 pounds and the 
ratio of digestible nitrogenous substance to digestible non- 
nitrogenous substance in the ration is as 0.71 816 to 8.87469 
or I : 12.3. The ratio thus obtained is a little too wide and 
may be narrowed by reducing somewhat the amount of 
straw fed which would also make it conform more nearly 
to the total amount of dry matter required in such a ration. 

Feeding standards. — A table of feeding standards is 
simply a collection of feeding standards stated in a regular 



184 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

and concise order. It usually relates to the feeding of va- 
rious classes of animals at different ages and from which 
different kinds of performance are required. Although the 
form of expression in those standards varies, they usually 
contain the following: 

1. The total dry organic substance, 

2. The total digestible nitrogenous substance, 

3. The total digestible non-nitrogenous substance 
which includes, 

(a) The total digestible carbohydrates including fi- 
bre ; and, 

(b) The total digestible fat. 

4. The total nutritive substance, and, 

5. The nutritive ratio resulting. 

The following table of feeding standards is taken from 
that portion of "First Principles of Agriculture" credited to 
the author and published in 1891. It is virtually identical 
with the standard given by Armsby in his book "Cattle 
Feeding." 

Table III. 

GIVING FEEDING STANDARDS. 

(Calculated per day and per 1000 pounds 11 re weight.) 

Non-Tiitrogenous 
sikbstance 

£. ^25* a; o 



_ a> o 

h H h " Eh Z 

lbs lbs lbs lbs lbs 

1, Cattle, at rest in stall 17.5 0.7 8.25 0.15 9.1 1:12 

2, Sheep, producing woe-f (coarse 

wool breeds) 20.0 1.2 10.6 0.2 12.0 1: 9 

Sheep, producing wool (fine 

wool breeds) 22.5 1.5 11.75 0.25 13.5 1: 8 

3, Oxen, moderately worked 24.0 1.6 11.7 0..3 1.5.6 1: 7.5 

Oxen, heavily worked 26.0 2.4 13.9 0.5 16.8 1: 6 

4, Horses, moderately worked ....22.5 1.8 12.0 0.6 14.4 1: 7 
Horses heavily worked 25.5 2.8 14.6 0.8 18.2 1: 5.5 

5, Milch cows 24.0 2.5 13.1 0.4 16.0 1:5 4 

6, Cattle, fattening (1st period). ...27.0 2.5 15.75 0.5 18.75 1: 6.5 
Cattle, fattening, (2d period).... 26.0 3.0 15.8 0.7 19.5 1,: 5.5 
Cattle, fattening (3d period) .. ..25.0 2.7 15.6 0.6 18.9 1: 6 

7, Sheep, fattening (1st p)eriod). ...26 3.0 16.0 0.5 19.5 1: 5.5 
Sheep, fattening (2d period) ....25 3.5 15.15 0.6 19.25 1: 4.5 



PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN FEEDING 185 

Table III — Continued 













Non-nitrogenous 
















substance 















w 


0} «1 D 




0) 











95^ 


•2 M 

'^ c H 


2 

c 

g 




4-> 
11 


> 


'•3 
u 








-O*-. si 




5 


fn 'C 




C 4-1 


.^ 










J2 


Z.-^ ^ 


' w 




.ti 








cS 3 


eS.- 3 


rt 


"3 J50 


0; 


rt 3 


u 








^M- 


-C« 




^o.S 


be 


o» 


3 








h 


h 




^ 


5 


^ 


Z 








lbs 


lbs 




lbs 


lbs 


lbs 




8, 


Swine, fattening (1st period).. 


..36.0 


5.0 




27.5 




32.5 


1 : 5.5 




Swine, fattening- (2d period).. 


..31.0 


4.0 




24.0 




28.0 


1: 6 




Swine, fattening (3d period).. 


..23.5 


2.7 




17.55 




20.25 


1: C.5 


9, 


Cattle growing: 
Age in Average live 
months per head 


wt 


















2- 3 165 lbs 




23.0 


4.0 




16.8' 


2.0 


■ 22.8 


1: 4.7 




3- 6 325 lbs 




23.4 


3.2 




15.0 


1.0 


19.2 


1: 5 




6-12 550 lbs 




24.0 


2.5 




14.4 


0.6 


17.5 


1: 6 




12-18 750 lbs 




24.0 


2.0 




13.6 


0.4 


16.0 


1: 7 




18-24 925 lbs 




24.0 


l.G 




12.5 


0.3 


14.4 


1: 8 


10 


, Sheep growing: 
Age in Average live 
months per head 


wt 


















5- 6 62 lbs 




28.0 


3.2 




16.8 


0.8 


20.8 


1: 5.5 




6- 8 74 lbs 




25.0 


2.7 




14.52 


0.6 


17.82 


1: 5.6 




8-11 83 lbs 




23.0 


2.1 




12.1 


0.5 


14.7 


1: 6 




11-15 91 lbs 




22.5 


1.7 




11.5 


0.4 


13.6 


1: 7 




15-20 95 lbs 




22.0 


1.4 




10.9 


0.3 


12.6 


1: 8 


11, 


, Swine, growing and fattening 


















Age in Average live 


wt 


















months per head 




















2- 3 .50 lbs 




42.0 


7.5 




30.0 




37.5 


1: 4 




3- 5 110 lbs 




34.0 


5.0 




25.0 




30.0 


1: 5 




5- 6 137 lbs 




31.5 


4.3 




23.65 




27.95 


1 : 5.5 




6- 8 187 lbs 




27.0 


3.4 




20.4 




23.S 


1: 6 




8-12 275 lbs 




21.0 


2.5 




16.2 




18.75 


1: 6.5 



Note— The weights given above represent German pounds, each of 
which is equal to 1 1-10 pounds avoirdupois. Practically this fact is of 
but little importance since the weights of the animals and of the foods 
given are relative. 

A careful study of the table of feeding standards will 
abundantly repay the labor thus expended. The truths 
which it teaches with reference to practical feeding" are 
many and far-reaching. Prominent among them are the 
following : 

I. That for the maintenance of animals at rest, the nu- 
tritive ratios are the widest. For any kind of production, 
animals need more food and of a more nitrogenous charac- 
ter. The additional quantity of food required is principally 



l86 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

for the production of heat, and the additional nitrogenous 
food for the production of muscular tissue or of muscular 
exertion. 

2. From an examination of 9, 10, and 11 in the table, 
it will be noticed that for all growing animals the nutritive 
ratios are narrow and that the younger the animal is, the 
narrower is the ratio, for the reason that for the devel- 
opment of all the important parts of the animal, nitrog- 
enous food is absolutely essential and in sufficient supply to 
secure the necessary development needed above what will be 
oxidized and excreted. 

3. While for animals at rest but a small amount of fat 
is required, it must be increased very considerably for ani- 
mals working or fattening, for the reason in the one case 
that heat is required which the fat readily supplies and in 
the other that fat in the food conduces both directly and 
indirectly to the formation of body fat. 

4. An examination of the total nutritive substance as 
given in the table which appertains to the growing of cat- 
tle, sheep and swine respectively, will show that the total 
nutritive substance set down as being required for each age 
given per 1000 pounds live weight, decreases relatively 
more or less rapidly with advancing age in the animal. But 
with it the relative increase made decreases even more rap- 
idly (see p. 371). This indicates the great importance of 
securing, during the whole time of the animal's develop- 
ment, the largest increase consistent with economy. 

5. Cattle that are reduced in flesh and fat cannot at 
once be quickly fattened as before quick fattening can fol- 
low, the animals to be fattened must possess a certain pro- 
portion of both organized and circulatory protein before 
they are capable of rapidly storing up the protein and fat 
of the food as new fat (see p. 177^- 

6. The proportion of fat and also the proportion of the 
same in the standard ration for milch cows is less than in 
the rations for fattening. Since the fat of the ration does 
not increase the percentage of fat in the milk, but it does 



PRIXCIPLKS THAT GOVERN FEEDING I57 

slightly increase the quantity of milk by protecting some 
of the nitrogenous substance of the food from oxidation 
and increasing the amount available for the formation of 
cells in the milk glands. 

7. The nutritive ratio for the food of milch cows is 
comparatively narrow. The explanation is first, that pro- 
tein is necessary for the production of dry substance in the 
milk; and second, that within certain limits the percentage 
of the dry substance will be increased with an increase of 
the nitrogenous substance in the food. 

8. Sheep require relatively more fodder than larger an- 
imals and fodder with a relatively narrower nutritive ratio, 
both for maintenance at rest and in fattening. They can 
bear a more concentrated food than cattle and the food 
should be less watery. For the production of wool only, it 
is only necessary to keep the animals in good condition, 
hence an excess of nitrogenous food would be waste when 
wool is the sole or even principal object sought. 

9. Swine eat much more food relatively than other an- 
imals, especially during the early stages of growth and fat- 
tening, and they increase in weight correspondingly. But 
in both respects their ability to increase in relative weight 
diminishes with advancing age and with advancement in the 
fattening period. 

10. Horses that work severely call for not only a pro- 
portionate increase in the amount of the food, but they also 
require food with a greater proportion of nitrogenous 
constituents. 

Notwithstanding the valuable assistance which these 
tables render to the feeder in choosing and balancing ra- 
tions suitable to the needs of the animals fed, the fact re- 
mains, that rations balanced from the standpoint of chem- 
ical analysis are only to be considered as approximate rather 
than as absolute guides. The following influences among 
others may lead to variations in the results from feeding 
rations so balanced : ( i ) The inherent and cultivated appe- 
tites of animals to take the same food varv greatlv and 



IO« FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

these variations produce corresponding- variations in the re- 
sults from feeding- the same foods. (2) The inherent power 
of animals of the same age and class to digest certain 
foods also varies greatly^, and with these variations the re- 
sults obtained will correspondingly vary. (3) Foods vary 
in their digestibility with variations in the soils on which 
they grew, and with the mechanical and chemical condition 
of the same, also with the degree of the development and 
maturity, hence the constituents of these will not be in strict 
accord with the chemical analyses given in feeding stand- 
ards. (4) Some foods have a physiological influence which 
is favorable or adverse to digestion, and this influence will 
lead to even important variations from feeding rations in 
equal chemical balance. (5) Adaptation or the want of 
this in the relative proportion of bulky food and concen- 
trates fed, will have an important bearing on the results ob- 
tained from feeding them. And (6) the degree of succu- 
lence in the ration has also a modifying influence. 



ART III. 

The more important of the foods grown in the United 
States and Canada are discussed in Part III; also their 
preparation for feeding. The discussion of the various sub- 
jects is in the following order: Chapter XI discusses food 
from cured fodders; Chapter XII, food from cereals and 
other seeds; Chapter XIII, food from by-products; Chapter 
XIV, food from pastures ; and Chapter XV, food from field 
roots and tubers. Chapter XVI dwells briefly on preparing 
foods for feedinof. 



189 




8 ^ 

o g 

'jj .s 



CHAPTER XI. 
FOOD FROM CURED FODDERS. 

The term fodders, as used in this chapter, means 
bulky foods such as hay. corn and sorghum stalks, also 
straw of the various small cereals. The necessity for feed- 
ing cured fodders is usually proportionate to the length of 
the winter, but under no conditions can their use be entirely 
dispensed with. Cured fodders only are discussed in Chap- 
ter XI. Fodders are also frequently fed in the green form. 
Those who desire further information in regard to feeding 
them thus are referred to the book "Soiling Crops and the 
Silo," by the author. The leguminous fodders discussed 
are: (i ) Clover hay; (2) alfalfa hay; (3) cowpea hay; (4) 
hay from vetches, and (5) bean hay. Those derived from 
the grasses proper are: (i) Timothy hay and (2) hay from 
grasses other than timothy. Those derived from small 
grain bearing plants are : ( i ) Hay from the small cereals, 
(2) hay from cereals mixed and (3) millet hay. Those de- 
rived from corn and the sorghums are : ( i ) Corn fodder ; 
(2) sorghum fodder and (3) non-saccharine sorghum fod- 
der. Lastly, the discussion of straw as fodder includes 
straw furnished by all the small cereals. 

Clover hay. — In one or another of its varieties, clo- 
ver may be grown with more or less success in nearly all 
the arable areas of the United States and Canada, but it has 
higher adaptation lelatively to conditions North, rather than 
South. Its distribution is wider and much more general 
than that of alfalfa since it may be grown on a greater 
variety of soils. It may be designated the standard fodder 
crop of the farms of the United States, and also of much 
of Canada, but it is not probable that it will ever become 
greatly popular when fed away from the farm. This is 
owing first, to the extent to which the leaves are lost while 



192 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

it is being handled in transportation ; second, to the dust it 
frequently contains, the outcome of curing" too little or too 
much before it is stored, and third, to the fact that it is less 
satisfactory than timothy on the whole as a fodder for 
horses. 

The varieties of cloi'er chiefly grown differ from each 
other in feeding value, but the elements of difference are 
physical rather than chemical. The common red, the stand- 
ard clover grown, is of medium fineness in both the cut- 
tings, which are commonly obtained the same season. The 
mammoth variety has stems so coarse that the waste in 
feeding may be considerable. The alsike, of fine growth, 
is usually fed with little waste. White clover with its small 
stems and leaves adds comparatively little to the bulk of the 
ordinary meadow. Crimson clover has a relatively large 
proportion of stem and the stems soon become woody, 
hence, as a hay, it is not so popular as the medium red or 
the alsike. Moreover, the stems are covered with hairs, 
and in these, on hay made from clover well advanced to- 
ward maturity before cutting, the danger is present, that 
when fed to horses, the hairs will gather into balls in the di- 
gestive tract and so lead to impaction. Japan clover, used 
for hay to some extent in the South, has proved about equal 
to Bermuda hay as food for cows. It would probably be 
correct to say, that clover provides more hay for live stock, 
and especially for cattle and sheep, than all other legumes 
taken together. Its preeminence in this respect is owing' 
to the wide range in its distribution, its high palatability, 
and the richness of its nutrients. 

For cattle, clover hay is excellently adapted to their 
needs owing to the relish with which it is eaten and to the 
equilibrium in its nutrients. It is virtually in itself a balanced 
food for them, especially for making growth and producing 
milk, but, owing to its bulkiness, concentrates are fre- 
quently fed along with it for making quick growth and are 
commonly always fed along with it when seeking abundant 
milk production or rapid fattening. No better fodder can 



FOOD FROM CURED FODDERS 193 

be given to calves, when the clover has been cut while 
young and tender. So excellent is it for such feeding that, 
where practicable, a supply of it should be specially stored 
for such feeding by those who need it. Like alfalfa it has 
high adaptation for being fed along with corn in fattening 
cattle. Since clover, however, is not quite so rich in pro- 
tein as alfalfa, some concentrate rich in protein should be 
added, though in limited quantity. Oil cake, gluten meal 
or cottonseed meal are very suitable. When it forms the 
sole fodder ration for cows in milk, as much as half the 
concentrate fed may be corn, but in proportion as corn 
fodder or corn stover is substituted for clover, the propor- 
tion of the corn fed should be decreased. 

For sheep, clover of fine growth and well harvested is 
particularly excellent. Its value for such feeding is les- 
sened in proportion as it is coarse, over ripe when cut or 
over dried when cured. For breeding ewes, good clover 
hay alone may furnish a sufficient ration in itself until the 
lambing season. When it forms the sole fodder part of the 
ration, it is not necessary to add much protein to corn when 
fed as the concentrate, but 5 to lo per cent of such food 
as oil cake will prove helpful. 

In feeding sivine, especially in winter, clover nay may 
be made to serve a useful purpose ; first, as a source of pro- 
tein and second, to give distension to the digestive organs. 
It is particularly valuable in feeding brood sows to which 
such carbonaceous foods as corn and rye are being fed. It 
is frequently fed simply as hay, but the ration is improved 
by chaffing the hay, adding the meal and steaming the mix- 
ture. Such food, however, should not be fed to swine be- 
ing fattened. 

For horses, clover has been assigned a lower place 
than is meet for such a fodder. This is owing chiefly to 
the dust so frequently found in it, as the result of over or 
of under-curing at the time of storing. This dust, penetrat- 
ing the lungs of horses to which such hay is fed for a pro- 
longed period, is much liable to produce heaves. It is also 



194 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

claimed and probably with truth, that working horses fed 
on it are liable to sweat more than horses fed timothy or na- 
tive hay. Nevertheless, it furnishes fodder quite suitable for 
foals and brood mares when it is of good quality. The pre- 
judice to feeding well made hay composed of timothy with 
a goodly sprinkling of clover in it, is not well founded, as 
the clover really adds to the feeding value of the hay. 

Alfalfa hay is the principal reliance for hay in all the 
mountain states of the West. In the states of the Central 
West, between the Mississippi and the semi-arid region, it 
is also extensively grown for fodder, and in sections of va- 
rious other states, its growth is extending more or less rap- 
idly. As hay it is usually fed in the uncut form, but when 
run through a cutting box and mixed with cut straw, it in- 
sures a much larger consumption of the latter. Recently a 
preparation has been made from it known as alfalmo which 
consists of alfalfa hay, fine in character, cut early, cured in 
good form and ground more or less finely. It is sometimes 
fed to young calves when started on fodder. The value of 
alfalfa hay is largely dependent on the stage of growth at 
which it is cut, and on the nature of the curing. Alfalfa 
cut, when, say one-fifth of the blossoms have appeared and 
cured without loss of leaves or exposure to rain, may be 
fully 50 per cent more valuable than alfalfa cured under 
opposite conditions. When the conditions of growing and 
curing are correct, alfalfa is somewhat more valuable as a 
fodder than the clovers but if the stems have become woody 
before it is cut, and if in addition many of the leaves are 
lost in the curing, its feeding value may be much less than 
that of well made clover hay. 

For cattle, alfalfa hay properly made is unexcelled. 
Cattle are very fond of this fodder. It is easily masticated 
and digested, is fed with but little waste, and is very rich in 
protein. Hay made from it, of thick growth and cut early, 
makes unexcelled fodder for calves. Young cattle will 
come through the winter in good form on alfalfa alone, and 
will also make a good growth. It has special adaptation 



FOOD FROM CURED FODDERS ' I95 

for being fed to cattle that are being fattened along with 
carbonaceous food such as corn. When corn is virtually 
the exclusive grain ration fed, alfalfa is so far superior as 
roughage to corn or sorghum, that feeding it should effect 
a saving of not less than 7,^ per cent in the grain fed. Its 
large protein content makes it highly suitable for pregnant 
cows or cows in milk. When fed to the latter as the sole 
fodder, fully 50 per cent of the grain fed may be corn. 

For sheep, it is quite as valuable as for cattle. Sheep 
grown chiefly upon it like cattle similarly grown, attain to 
a relatively large size. Breeding ewes may be successfully 
wintered on alfalfa of good quality without grain, up to 
the season for lambing. As when fattening cattle, it should 
effect a saving of fully ;^^ per cent in the grain ration when 
fed to sheep. 

As sz^'iiic fodder, when of good quality, alfalfa hay is 
frequently fed to brood sows in the winter and also to other 
swine, but is relatively more suitable for the former be- 
cause of its bulkiness. In some instances it is fed as hay, 
in others in the cut form and in admixture with meal, 
steamed or not steamed, but preferably steamed where the 
cost involved is not excessive. The leaves are much prized 
for such feeding when they accumulate sufficiently for such 
a use. In corn and alfalfa growing areas, alfalfa hay may 
be made to furnish a very considerable proportion of the 
ration for swine in winter. 

For horses. — In some sections, as in areas where alfalfa 
grows very abundantly and the grasses grow less abun- 
dantly, alfalfa furnishes the chief fodder fed to horses. It 
has been found very suitable for colts, horses that are idle 
and also for brood mares both when carrying and nursing 
their foals. As it is more or less laxative when fed to 
horses driven faster than a walk, it produces too much 
looseness in the bowels, especially at first. Alfalfa hay and 
corn furnish a more suitable food for horses than timothy 
and corn, viewed from the standpoint of nutrients, since it 
is in better balance. Tests have shown that horses will 



196 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

maintain flesh better on alfalfa hay than on timothy hay. 
Like clover, unless due care is taken in curing it, the hay is 
much liable to be dusty; this lowers its value much as a 
food for horses which soon become very fond of it and may 
eat it to excess. 

Cowpea hay, not required in the North because of 
the large number of other hay plants that may be grown, 
is very comm.only made in nearly all parts of the South. 
No other plant in the South of equal value for hay is grown 
over so wide an area. In many of its varieties it may be 
grown for hay after the removal of a crop grown previ- 
ously the same season. It furnishes hay of high quality 
viewed from the standpoints of palatability and nutrition. 
When well cured, live stock relish it quite as much as, or 
even more than alfalfa, and in nutrients it is very similar. 
The yields average about two tons an acre and run all the 
way from one-half ton to five tons. It has been claimed 
that two tons of cowpea hay an acre will furnish in total 
digestible nutrients more than a similar area yielding 40 
bushels of oats or 30 bushels of corn. But the curing of 
cowpea hay is somewhat difficult, and in some varieties it 
is not easily handled because of the running character of 
the vines. 

By cattle, cowpea hay is not only relished, but for 
growing cattle, no fodder in the South is superior to it. In 
fattening cattle it feeds well along with corn stover or corn 
fodder, but its highest use in the South as food for stock, 
is found in producing milk. For this purpose it has proved 
fully equal to alfalfa and somewhat superior to clover hay 
and has been claimed to be even superior to corn silage. 
The value of the hay for such feeding is much influenced 
by the stage of maturity at which the crop is cut. Hay with 
grain well advanced toward maturity is more valuable for 
fattening cattle than hay cut during the period even of 
medium bloom and it is much more easily cured, but it may 
lose something in palatability. For the silo, they should 
be reasonably well advanced before being harvested. 



roOD FROM CURED FODDERS I97 

In fccdijii:; shccf^ and lai>ibs, cowpea hay, though not 
much used because of the relatively small amount of such 
feeding- done in the South, has high adaptation. Of course, 
hay produced by the finer growing varieties is more valu- 
able than what is bulky. What is said about the value 
of vetch hay for fattening sheep (see p. 198) will apply 
about equally to cowpea hay. If additional grain were ad- 
ded, corn, barley, rye and even oats would prove very suit- 
able. For milk production, cowpea hay cut, say when the 
plants are in the late stages of bloom, should answer well 
for ewes nursing lambs. 

For szi'inc, cowpea hay is not well adapted, owing to 
the relatively small amount of the vine consumed, except 
when the crop has been cut at an early stage of growth. But 
when it has been harvested at maturity and the fodder 
much injured by rain, it may be in order to feed the loose 
sheaves or bundles to swine that will search out and con- 
sume the peas. 

For horses. — This hay is considerably prized in the 
South, not only for feeding brood mares, weanling foals 
and indeed all young horses of the draught types and also 
of the standard bred classes. Such food adds to the size. 
For working horses and mules it serves about the same 
purposes as alfalfa (see p. 195) and answers well for being 
fed with a grain ration consisting of corn and oats. As 
with vetch hay, more or less dust is likely to be present. 
This, of course, is so far objectionable. 

Hay from vetches. — Vetches are frequently grown 
for hay, but more commonly in conjunction with one of the 
small cereals in order to furnish them the support neces- 
sary to prevent them from falling on the ground during 
the later stages of growth. For this purpose rye is some- 
times sown, but more commonly the cereal of support is 
wheat or oats. Hay from these is more relished than hay 
from rye. Vetch hay is thus grown from the winter and 
spring varieties of the common vetch and also from the 
sand or hairy vetch. Such hay is grown to a considerable 



198 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

extent in the Pacific states, and to a less extent in the 
South. In the former large yields of hay are obtained es- 
pecially from the common vetch which is highly nutritious 
and is much relished by stock. The feeding value is much 
inlluenced by the stage of maturity at which it is cut. The 
more grain the hay possesses and the more mature it is up 
to the limit of not lessening the palatability of the plant, the 
more valuable is it for fodder. 

By cattle, vetch hay is much relished. Grown thickly 
and cut when the first pods have formed, it makes a most 
excellent fodder for young calves. It is probably more val- 
uable for older cattle when more mature. When fed to 
beef cattle and also to dairy cattle, the most suitable vetch 
hay is obtained when the grain is a little short of maturity. 
Such hay is especially valuable for producing milk. Vetch 
hay made from vetches and oats grown together is also al- 
most equally good for producing milk. 

For sheep, it is admirably, adapted. The growth is finer 
than that of the pea, hence there is even less waste in feed- 
ing vetch hay to sheep than in feeding pea hay. Vetch hay 
cut at any stage between that of full bloom and the filling 
of the pods makes admirable hay for sheep being carried 
through the winter and especially for ewes nursing lambs. 
Such hay will virtually suffice for nursing ewes without 
other food, and when the hay is almost mature before it is 
cut, sheep may be fattened by feeding vetch hay alone when 
it can be spared for such a use. As with peas, exposure to 
rain while being cured speedily reduces the feeding value. 

For swine, vetch hay pure and simple is virtually of lit- 
tle value, except when cut not later than the stage of early 
bloom. But when fed in the mature form, swine will, of 
course, find food in the grain to the extent even of fattening 
upon it, as when they are allowed to glean amid the mature 
though unharvested crop. But this makes no use of the 
vines for food, which would be a waste that in ordinary 
feeding could not be defended. However, should the har- 
vested crop be greatly injured by rain, it would be justifi- 



FOOD FR().\r CL'RED FODDERS I99 

able to feed vetches to swine in the loose sheaves or bun- 
dles in which they are usually harvested, except when the 
straw is wanted for bedding. 

For horses, vetch hay stands much on a par with clo- 
ver hay as a food. It is richer in nutrients than clover and 
horses are fond of it, but like clover it is not easily cured so 
as to be free from dust. When grown in admixture, as 
with wheat or oats, the combination makes excellent fodder 
for horses when cut somewhat short of maturity. 

Bean hay. — Hay is seldom or never made from the 
common field bean {Faba vulgaris), but it is sometimes 
made from the soy bean (Glycine hispida), the velvet bean 
{Muciina utilis), and the horse bean, a variety probably of 
the species l^aba vulgaris. It is more frequently made from 
the soy bean than from the other plants of the bean family, 
but soy beans also are more commonly grown to provide 
grain rather than hay. Soy bean hay which yields on an 
average about two tons an acre is much relished by stock 
when cut and cured so as to retain the bulk of the leaves. 
Owing to the intertwining nature of the vines, the harvest- 
ing of velvet beans is not easy nor is the crop easily cured, 
hence it does not stand as high, relatively, in the popular es- 
timate as it otherwise would. But its hay is said to be 
much relished by stock and in some instances the cutting 
may be so regulated as to give two of these crops a year. 

Horse beans are seldom harvested for hay. They are 
usually grown primarily for the grain and incidentally for 
the straw. They are slow in curing but may be made into 
hay should occasion require this. As curing them thus us- 
ually calls for considerable work, it is oftentimes considered 
preferable when the facilities are present, to cure them in 
the silo along with other feed such as corn. 

By cattle, hay made from the crops named is much rel- 
ished, but it is not commonly fed to them in any considerable 
quantity nor in prolonged feeding, since in nearly all in- 
stances such fodder may be obtained with less labor from 
other plants that may be grown in the same locality. It is 



200 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

more commonly fed to dairy cows, as the high protein con- 
tent in each is conducive to free milk production. It is 
claimed that soy bean hay should be made before the plants 
approach the maturing period or much of the grain will es- 
cape mastication and will not be properly digested. 

Itt sheep feeding, hay from these plants is not much 
used for the reason just given as to why it is not much used 
in feeding cattle. But when cut early and well cured, sheep 
eagerly consume it, especially after they have become ac- 
customed to it. It is particularly useful in feeding ewes 
nursing lambs and which have not yet been turned out to 
pasture. When largely made up of coarse stems from 
which many of the leaves have been lost, the value of the 
hay for feeding sheep is proportionately lessened. 

In feeding swine, bean hay is of but little value, owing 
to the small quantities of it the animals consume. But, of 
course, hogs may glean profitably in soy bean and velvet 
bean fields, when the crops are not to be otherwise har- 
vested. Common field beans and horse beans are too val- 
uable for such feeding. Swine are not so fond of beans in 
the raw state as they usually are of peas, corn and the 
small cereal grains. 

Horses and mules may be fed bean hay when available. 
To young horses and brood mares it may be fed with much 
freedom, when the proportion of grain in the hay is not too 
large. The horse bean, when fed as hay in the nearly ma- 
tured form, may be made to furnish a large proportion of 
the fodder and grain required. The additional grain 
should be corn when available. What has been said of the 
horse bean will probably apply also to the soy bean. 

Timothy hay.-i-This crop now grown most extensively 
in the northern part of the United States, and in nearly all 
of the arable areas of Canada, stands higher as a fodder for 
horses than any other plant grown. In states farther south, 
it is also grown more or less, but in these it is not relied 
upon to anything like so great an extent in providing fod- 
der for horses. No other kind of hay is so suitable for 



FOOD FROM CURF;D FODDERS ' 201 

shipping and none brings so high a price in the average 
market. 

For cattle, timothy does not rank high when fed alone. 
It is but Httle ahead of corn or sorghum in its protein con- 
tent. Usually the market value for timothy unmixed and 
of good quality, makes it too dear for such feeding. The 
yield of timothy is also relatively low compared with the 
fodders just named. Timothy of fine growth, cut early and 
well cured, may be fed to calves with suitable adjuncts, but 
when coarse and woody, the results from such feeding will 
not prove satisfactory. If fed as the exclusive fodder por- 
tion to cattle that are being fattened, the concentrate fed 
along with it should be rich in such protein foods as oil 
ineal, gluten meal, pea meal, cottonseed meal and wheat 
bran. When fed to cows in milk, even larger proportions 
of these foods should be fed. When grown on farms for 
such feeding, it is usually sown in conjunction with clover. 
The two grow admirably together and furnish a mixed hay 
well suited to the needs of cattle. The larger the propor- 
tion of the clover in such hay, the more valuable it is rela- 
tively for cattle and sheep, but the reverse of this is true 
though with some limitations with reference to horses. (See 

P- 193)- 

For sheep, timothy when fed alone, is even more un- 
suitable than for cattle. This is especially true of timothy 
that is coarse and overripe, as sheep will not readily eat 
such hay. Should they be compelled to eat it as the sole 
fodder ration, they will not maintain good form, unless con- 
centrates rich in protein are fed to them. It is quite ad- 
missible, however, to feed mixed timothy and clover to 
sheep when the crop has been cut at an early stage in the 
maturity of the timothy. 

For swine, timothy hay is quite unsuited. The swine 
do not care to eat it and it is also ill suited to their diges- 
tion. It is questionable if it will pay to feed it to them, 
even though chaffed and steamed. 



202 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

For horses, timothy is par excellence the fodder. No 
fodder grown on the continent will at all compare with it 
in popularity for this purpose. It occupies the place among 
horse fodders that oats does among grains. Timothy and 
oats are the standard and favorite foods for horses wher- 
ever they can be grown. 

The high estimate thus put upon timothy arises : First, 
from its freedom from dust ; second, from the little loss re- 
sulting from handling it ; and third, from the fondness 
which horses show for it. It does not, like clover and al- 
falfa, produce too much of laxness in the bovv^els, and it 
seems to impart and sustain both nerve and staying power 
akin to the results that come from feeding oats. It has, 
moreover, peculiar adaptation for being fed to horses that 
are driven much and fast or worked hard. But mixed tim- 
othy and clover has higher adaptation for being fed to foals, 
young horses, brood mares and horses that are idle because 
oi its higher protein content. 

Hay from grasses other than timothy. — Prominent 
among the grasses other than timothy that are grown in the 
United States for feeding as hay, are Redtop (Agrostis 
2'tdgaris), Russian brome (Bromus inermis), Orchard 
grass {Dactyhis glomcrata). Meadow fescue (Festtica pra- 
tensis), Tall oat grass (Arrhenathcrum avcnaccum). West- 
ern rye grass (Agropyrum fenerum), Kentucky blue grass 
(Poa pratensis), Canadian blue grass {Poa compressa) 
and in the South Bermuda grass {Cynodon dactylon). The 
wild grasses of the prairie are also an important source of 
hay in western and northwestern areas. Other grasses, as 
for instance. Perennial rye grass (Lolium perenne), Italian 
rye grass [Lolium Italicum), Texas blue grass (Poa ari- 
chnifera). Rough stalked meadow grass (Poa trivialis), 
Fowl meadow grass (Poa serotina), Rescue grass (Bromus 
unioloidcs) and Velvet grass (Holcus lanatus) are grown 
more or less largely for fodder, but because of the compara- 
tively limited areas to which their growth is restricted, they 
will not be discussed here further than to sav that being 



FOOD FROM CLKED FODDERS 20 ^ 

carbonaceous, they should be fed in conjunction with 
legumes. 

Redtop, probably more extensively distributed than any 
other grass, ranks high as a fodder. It is seldom grown 
alone to provide fodder in northern areas, save in land that 
is naturally slough-like in character. It is much grown 
along with timothy on congenial soils, to increase the totul 
yield. The feeding qualities are much like those of timothy, 
and alone or in conjunction with timothy, it may be fed in 
much the same way (see p. 200). 

Russian brome grass is jiopular as a dry fodder in 
large areas of the northwestern states and in nearly all of 
the cultivated areas of northwestern Canada. The yields 
are generally in excess of those obtained from timothy, and 
the feeding value is by many considered higher, owing to 
the greater leafiness and superior palatability of Russian 
brome. It is adapted to about the same uses as timothy 
(see p. 200), but is not so readily cured, nor is it so good a 
fodder for shipping, nor in all respects for feeding horses. 

Orchard grass has never become nearly so popular as 
timothy or redtop as a hay crop. This is owing to its coarse 
growth, to the greater woodiness of the stems, to the short 
period during which it ma}' be harvested in season, to the 
greater degree of the injury it takes from rain, and to the 
less relish which animals have for it. It must not be under- 
stood, however, that it will not make good hay if cut and 
cured properly. It may be fed in substantially the same 
way as timothy. 

Meadow fescue is not grown alone to provide dry fod- 
der over large areas, as it takes longer to form a thick and 
strong growth than timothy. Xor can it be said that on 
average soils it ])roduccs more al)undantly than the standard 
hay fodder mentioned, although in some of the central 
western states it has produced more abundantly than tim- 
othy. Its feeding value is much the same. 

Tall oat grass, more extensively grown in the South 
anfl in the central and far western states than elsewhere on 



204 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

this continent, has the merit of growing quickly and vigor- 
ously into hay. Its palatability is not so high relatively as 
that of timothy, owing to a somewhat bitter principle found 
in the hay, and to a greater extent in the pasture and to the 
coarseness of stem and leaf. Nor is it so easily cured as 
timothy, while it takes greater injury from rain. In feed- 
ing value it is scarcely equal to timothy, especially for 
horses, but like timothy it should be fed in conjunction with 
leguminous foods. 

IVesteni rye grass, frequently called slender wheat 
grass, has special adaptation for the prairies of the West 
and the Northwest, and more particularly for areas too dry 
for growing other grasses at their best. It is native to 
much of the prairie region, and under cultivation will pro- 
duce large yields of hay. The hay is very easily cured, but 
it is not so much relished as timothy or Russian brome, ow- 
ing in part at least to its woody character, but it will furnish 
hay under cultivation on soils too dry for the growth of 
other cultivated grasses. Its uses are almost identical with 
those of timothy (see p. 200). 

Kentucky blue grass is not a good grass to furnish fod- 
der. Because of the fine and dwarfish habit of growth, the 
yields are relatively small and unless cut with much prompt- 
ness at the proper stage of growth, it becomes so dry and 
woody as to be little relished. Its habitat will ultimately 
embrace nearly all the tillable areas of the United States. 
It is very easily cured and may be fed in about the same 
way as timothy (see p. 200). It is seldom cut for hay ex- 
cept when it forms a part of another hay crop. 

Canadian blue grass, like the Kentucky variety, does 
not give large yields, but it produces more valuable hay, es- 
pecially for horses. It has so much of body to it, as it were, 
that it weighs heavily. When the conditions for growth 
are not really favorable, this grass may frequently be grown 
with profit for hay. Like all the grasses, when cured it has 
highest adaptation for feeding horses, especially when at 
work. 



FOOD FROM CURED FODDERS 20S 

Bermuda grass is by far the most valuable grass grown 
in the South. It is, strickly speaking, a summer grass, and 
one for mild latitudes, as it turns brown with the first frosts 
of autumn. It wilfnot live in a soil that is penetrated deeply 
by frost. It will also grow, though by no means equally 
well, on nearly all the soils of the South. Strickly speaking, 
it is a pasture grass, but it also makes palatable and nutri- 
tious hay, although the yields are not large relatively. The 
aim should be to feed it in conjunction with such fodder as 
alfalfa or cowpea hay, or with such a concentrate as cotton- 
seed meal. 

IVild prairie hay is largely fed in both the American 
and Canadian Northwest. Of course it is a gradually dimin- 
ishing quantity, but for many years it will still continue to 
be an important source of hay in the areas named. It varies 
greatly in quality with the grasses which compose it, the 
soils on which it grows, the stage at which it is cut, and the 
character of the curing. It usually embraces a number of 
grasses and other plants, some of which partake of the 
character of the weeds. On the upland the general charac- 
ter of the growth is fine, but in the sloughs it is usually rank 
and dense. Harvesting prairie grass is very frequently so 
long deferred that the value of the hay is lessened although 
it will bear such treatment better than most grasses. It is 
also very frequently injured by over exposure in the swath. 
It is very evident that such hay will vary so much in charac- 
ter that its feeding value cannot be given in any other than 
a general way. In tests made, upland prairie hay has been 
found to possess feeding properties about equal to timothy 
and to be adapted to the same kinds of feeding (see p. 200). 
The presence of foreign substances will of course reduce 
the value of such hay in proportion as they are present. 

Hay from the small grains. — Hay is sometimes made 
from the various kinds of small grains grown singly, 
or in various combinations. When grown singly the hay 
takes its name from the grain which furnishes it. There is, 
therefore, rye hay, speltz hay, wheat hay, barley hay, oat 



206 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

hay, pea hay and vetch hay. The oat is more commonly 
made to furnish hay than any of the small grains . The ne- 
cessity for growing hay from these sources is based on the 
needs of the localities where they are thus grown, and on 
the attendant conditions of soil and climate. Hay from 
these crops is made in the same way as hay from the grasses. 
The time of cutting varies with the use that is to be made 
of it. The aim, however, in cutting it seeks to retain the 
green color in the hay without sacrificing entirely the grain 
product. In other words it seeks to cut the crop as soon 
as the plants are possessed of a maximum of nutrition and 
before the crop has matured. 

Rye hay is probably the least valuable of the kinds of 
hay made from any of the small cereals. At a very early 
Ftage of growth it becomes woody in character and so un- 
profitable that live stock do not eat it readily unless when 
chaffed and mixed with other fodders. The matured grain 
of rye -is usually more valuable than the grain and fodder 
together when harvested short of maturity. Rye hay is less 
relished by sheep than by other live stock unless it has been 
cut at or before the early earing stage. 

Spelts hay is sometimes made in semi-arid regions 
where hay from other sources is not easily obtained. That 
it does not produce high yields of fodder is so far an ob- 
jection to its use. Care must be taken not to allow it to be- 
come so mature that it will get over-woody. 

Wheat hay is grown to a considerable extent in certain 
oi the Pacific states and in some of the semi-arid country 
to provide hay chiefly for horses and more particularly for 
horses at work. Oh the bench lands of these states it may 
usually be harvested and cured in the absence of rain. 
When cut a little short of maturity it makes excellent hay 
for horses at work, but for other classes of animals on the 
farm it is usually too costly for such feeding. In other 
words, other plants may usually be grown that will furnish 
hav more cheaply. 



FOOD FROM CURED FODDERS 20/ 

Barley nay is frequently grown in the western moun- 
tain and Pacific states, and as with wheat, chiefly for the 
purpose of providing food for horses. For such a use ii 
stands high in favor, especially for horses that are being 
driven. In regions where alfalfa grows, such hay would be 
too costly for feeding cattle, sheep or swine. If allowed to 
become mature before it is cut, the beards will make 

trouble. 

Oat hay is probably grown more than hay from all the 
other grains combined. In all parts of the United States 
where oats can be grown, more or less oat hay is also grown. 
This hay may be fed with profit under certain conditions to 
all classes of farm animals except swine. It is chiefly 
grown to provide food for dairy cows and the aim in grow- 
ing it thus is to furnish fodder and a part of the grain in 
the same plant, without the necessity for threshing or grind- 
ing the grain. Such hay usually ranks next to clover hay as 
fodder for dairy cows. The crop is usually cut with the 
binder when the grain is in or nearing the dough stage, tied 
in small sheaves and cured in the shock. When fed to 
sheep it should be cut not far beyond the heading out stage. 

Pea and vetch hays are not usually grown alone, but 
rather in combination with some other cereal. For the dis- 
cussion of growing peas thus see p. 208. For the discus- 
sion relating to vetches see p. 208. 

Hay from cereals mixed. — Hay is sometimes grown 
from a mixture of the seed of certain of the cereals. Such 
fodders are usually more valuable relatively, at least for cer- 
tain uses, than they would be if grown singly. This arises 
first, from the finer growth that usually characterizes the 
hay because of the thicker stand of the plants ; second, from 
the larger yields that result from the thick stand ; third, 
from the variety in the hay which whets the appetite, and 
fourth, from the better balance given to the fodder when 
legumes are grown with non-legumes. 

These mixtures may be varied indefinitely ; the most 
popular by far are mixtures of oats and peas, oats and 



208 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

vetches, or of the three combined. In other instances wheat, 
oats, barley and flax are grown together. When legumes 
are grown with non-legumes, the aim usually is to have not 
more of the latter in the mixture than will sustain the le- 
gumes, but this of course may be varied at the will of the 
grower. In order to obtain the desired proportions of each 
plant, the seed must be sown with that end in view, and it 
may take some time to ascertain how much of each will fur- 
nish the best fodder. 

Peas and oats grown together furnish excellent fodder 
when the crop has been kept from lodging. If cut a little 
underripe the hay is excellent for all kinds of growing 
stock. But when fed to growing animals it may be neces- 
sary to add other fodder as the peas and oats may contain 
too large a proportion of grain for the needs of the stock. 
For dairy cows, such food is excellent. It also meets in fine 
form the needs of sheep. When breeding ewes are fed such 
fodder usually they do not require any additional grain. 
This fodder when properly grown may be cut with the 
binder and fed from the sheaf or it may be cured like hay, 

Oats and vetches are grown similarly to oats and peas. 
The proportions of each that ought to be sown can only 
be determined by experiment, but the vetch is the more val- 
uable fodder of the two, and should, therefore, furnish th^ 
bulk of the fodder. The relatively high cost of the seed is 
the most serious objection in the way of growing such hay 
in the meantime. It furnishes a grand fodder for milch 
cows and ranks even higher as a fodder for sheep. Such 
hay can be obtained from the common vetch and also from 
the sand or hairy vetch. The latter cannot be harvested 
satisfactorily for hay, unless grown with some grain crop 
owing to the intertwining nature of the vines. 

Oat, pea and retch hay is much relishea and when 
properlv grown is of fine growth. Usually the seed of the 
vetch must be used freely in the mixture or the vetches will 
be overshadowed by the growth of the other plants. Some 
variety of oats, short and stiff in the straw, is to be preferred 



FOOD FROM CURED FODDERS 209 

to oats tall and coarse. It is important that the crop snail 
be prevented from lodging, otherwise its quality will be 
proportionately lowered. 

In zi'licat, oaf, barley and flax hay, the flax is sown to 
furnish what is the equivalent of oil meal to the fodder. The 
amount to sow must be determined by the conditions of 
each locality. The more rank the growth of the other 
plants in the mixture, the more the amount of the flax re- 
quired and vice z'crsa. Usually from 2 to 4 quarts an acre 
will suffice. Hay properly made from these grains, much 
relished by cattle and useful in feeding sheep, is of highest 
value relatively for horses. 

Millet hay. — Millet in all its varieties is more com- 
monly grown as a catch crop in the United States and Can- 
ada than as the principal crop of the season. It is pecu- 
liarly adapted for being grown thus, owing to the short 
period it occupies the land. It will usually mature a hay 
crop in from 60 to 75 days from the date of sowing. It 
grows best during the warm weather of summer, and it 
may be successfully grown on any land that will grow good 
corn. Its value for hay depends much on the season of 
cutting and also on the method adopted in curing the crop. 
If cut too early, the hay is lacking in body and yield, and 
when fed freely tends more or less to induce scouring. If 
cut too late, it becomes so woody that more or less of the 
coarser parts will be left uneaten by the stock to which it is 
fed. Much of the seed will also shatter, and that which does 
not is so hard that it may cause more or less irritation in the 
digestive organs. To make hay suitable for feeding to live 
stock generally, it should be cut when a golden tint begins 
to show in the heads on looking over the field. The curing 
should be about the same as would be suitable for curing 
first class quality of clover hay. When properly cured the 
hay should be green rather than brown. No class of hay 
varies more in value because of variations in the modes of 
making it. When made as outlined, it is an excellent fod- 
der adjunct for cattle, horses and sheep. But, usually, it 



2IO FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

should form not more than 50 per cent of the fodder fed, 
for the reason first, that its protein content is not high ; 
and second, that it has not proved entirely satisfactory or 
safe when fed continuously as the sole fodder ration. 

Fed to cattle, the aim should be to alternate the feeding 
with clover or some other legume. Though not equal to 
clover or alfalfa as a food for calves, when finely grown 
and well cured, it may, with much propriety form at least 
one half the fodder ration. It may also be fed thus to beef 
cattle, the other fodder in all such instances being legumi- 
nous. Cut and cured in good form, it is superior to timothy 
as a milk producer, but when overripe it is of little value for 
such feeding and may do harm. 

Fed to sheep, it is highly important that it shall be of 
fine growth. When thus grown and well cured, sheep eat it 
with avidity, but when coarse, overripe or overcured, it is 
less valuable than straw of some of the small cereals. Fed 
to lambs at the Michigan experiment station, it proved 
less valuable than clover hay and oat straw fed together, the 
grain fed being corn. 

For swine, it has low feeding value. Unless when it 
contains seed, it has practically no feeding value as the an- 
imals will not eat enough of it to make it in any considerable 
degree even a food of support. But in some instances, 
they have been carried through the winter by allowing them 
to eat the heads of matured millet, when other food was 
not obtainable. 

For horses, millet, if well cured, may usually be made 
to form half the fodder ration, but if fed continuously for 
any considerable period, serious complications may follow. 
In the prairie sections of the Northwest where considerable 
millet is grown for hay, it is claimed that horses have died 
from the exclusive feeding ot millet hay. Experiments con- 
ducted at the North Dakota experiment station apparently 
justify the following conclusions: (i ) That feeding millet 
increases unduly the action of the kidneys; (2) that it 
causes a swelling of the joints that leads to lameness, which 



FOOD FROM CURED FODDERS . 211 

may, however, disappear when the feeding of millet is dis- 
continued; and (3) that it injures the texture of the bone 
by rendering it softer and less tenacious. 

Corn fodder, — This is an elastic term which may be 
applied to corn cut at any stage of growth and fed in the 
green or cured form, with or without the removal of the 
ears. It thus applies to the crop grown so thickly or cut so 
early that it has no ears, to the mature crop fed along with 
the ears which it has borne and also to the crop from which 
the ears have been removed, but the stalks from which the 
ears have been taken are usually spoken of as stover. Shock 
corn means the cured product as fed from the shock or 
stack and without husking. Snapped corn is a term applied 
to ears which are pulled from the standing stalks and fed 
without being husked. 

In estimating the value of corn fodder for feeding, the 
following considerations should be taken into account ; viz., 
(i) The proportion of ear to stalk; (2) the object sought 
from feeding the corn ; ( 3 ) the stage of maturity at which 
the crop is harvested and ( 4 ) the time that has elapsed 
since harvesting the corn. Of well matured corn grown 
for the ears, it would probably be correct to say that more 
than half the entire weight of the crop and considerably 
more than half of the nutrients i in the ear. Consequently 
when cattle and sheep are being fattened, the greater the 
proportion of ears to the fodder fed the more suitable is 
it for such fattening. But, as usually fed. the proportion 
of the stalks rejected will be greater than from corn grown 
rather to produce fodder than ears, because of the coarse 
and harsh character of the former. 

When corn is fed simply for maintenance, to promote 
growth without fattening, or for milk production, the con- 
sumption of the entire product will be greater when the 
fodder has been grown so thickly as to reduce the size of 
ear and stalk. When thus grown, the total yield to the acre 
of nutrients will also be greater than if grown to produce 
the largest amount of ears. Consequently the food value of 



212 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

an acre of corn of the former class, should be greater for 
such feeding than of the latter class. There is a limit, how- 
ever, to the extent to which corn should be crowded in 
growth in order to increase fineness and leafiness with a 
view to increase palatability in the fodder. Ordinarily that 
limit is the point at which the yield of total digestible nu- 
trients per acre would be decreased, if thick growth were 
carried further. Where this point is, cannot be definitely 
stated, since it will vary with variations in varieties of corn, 
soils and temperatures. It is possible, however, to grow 
corn fodder so fine and leafy as to insure its entire con- 
sumption when fed. 

The stage at which corn should be cut for feeding when 
cured is greatly important. The increase in weight from 
the time the corn is fully silked until mature is very great, 
and the increase in nutrients is much greater. Corn should 
never be cut to be made into cured fodder or for the silo, 
until the grain has reached the glazing stage, except when 
such cutting is necessary to protect the crop from impend- 
ing frosts. It is even better when the crop passes the glaz- 
ing stage. Nevertheless, corn that has not passed the milk 
stage of the grain when it must needs be cut for the reason 
given, is by no means to be despised for fodder, notwith- 
standing that pound for pound well matured corn fodder 
has a higher feeding value. 

The maximum of nutrition is in the corn crop when it 
has matured. When shocked in the field in well put up 
shocks, the loss from deterioration in feeding value is not 
great for a time. Soon, however, there is loss though the 
fodder should not be injured by rain, and this loss increases 
in an acclerated ratio and with increase in duration subse- 
quently to the time of harvesting. The losses in dry mat- 
ter and in such substances as protein, sugar and starch are 
heavy, especially after the winter months, nor will stacking 
or storing under cover prevent such losses. They are 
thought to result from chemical changes brought about by 
fermentations. Add to such loss the incidental losses from 



FOOD FKOM CLKi:i) l-UDDliKS 21^ 

fodder exposed and from decrease in palatability, and the 
feeding value of the crop in time becomes greatly lessened, 
hence the advisability of feeding the fodder when practi- 
cable in the autumn and early winter, reserving the fodder 
for later feeding. 

For feeding calves, corn fodder is suitable when of fine 
growth, but not so suitable as clover hay or alfalfa. When 
not too coarse, it furnishes excellent food for young cattle 
of any age, but it is too low in protein to produce results 
entirely satisfactory when fed alone. Stover is less suitable 
for such feeding, being lower in nutrients, but may be so 
used when shredded. 

For cattle that are being fattened, corn fodder is in- 
creasingly suitable as the grain which it contains increases. 
Feeding corn from the shock is regarded as more econom- 
ical than feeding from the crib, as the labor of husking is 
saved, more or less of the fodder is consumed, and the ten- 
dency to scouring often resulting from the heavy feeding of 
ear corn is lessened if not entirely prevented. The benefits 
resulting from feeding snapped corn are somewhat similar 
though less in degree, as when feeding it the consumption 
of coarse material is not so great. Fodder corn is fed by 
strewing it over grass pastures daily, or by feeding in 
slatted racks in yards or sheds. The distance between the 
slats should be enough to permit the cattle to insert their 
heads when feeding. The aim should be when feeding such 
fodder to have two pastures or two feeding lots, and to al- 
low other cattle to glean after those that are being fattened. 
When fodder with but few ears or stover is being fed to 
such cattle, the aim should lie to feed it in the shredded 
form, and to make not less than half the ration clover hay. 

For dairy cozes in milk, corn fodder furnishes excellent 
roughage when not too coarse on the stalk. With much ad- 
vantage it may form 50 per cent or even more of the entire 
roughage fed, according to the nature of the other fodder 
used. When possessed of a fair amount of nubbins, it is 
not necessary to add any more shelled corn. Even mature 



214 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

corn, grown so thickly as to furnish virtually no nubbins 
has been found excellent for milk production, and also one 
of the most economical of foods, owing to the ease with 
which it may usually be grown and to the relatively large 
yields obtained. Good corn fodder is fully as valuable ton 
for ton, if not more so, than good timothy. In trials at the 
Wisconsin station, one ton of corn stover fed to dairy cows 
was found to be equal in feeding value to three tons of 
mixed clover and timothy hay. Fully one-third of the sto- 
ver was left unconsumed. Cows in milk may be fed about 
12 pounds of corn fodder per day, and mature cattle that 
are being wintered a much larger amount. 

For sheep, the value of corn fodder depends largely on 
the character of the growth. For ordinary feeding the fod- 
der should be of fine growth, but some feeders prefer corn 
with full sized ears when sheep are being fattened. In such 
instances, a large proportion of the fodder is left uncon- 
sumed. Corn stover is less valuable relatively for feeding 
sheep than for feeding horses and cattle, and largely because 
of its coarse character. In the shredded form it has not al- 
ways proved entirely satisfactory as a food for sheep, as 
they do not consume it with the same relish as the larger 
animals. 

For swine, particularly in some of th^ sweet varieties, 
corn fodder apart from the grain and in the cured form, is 
comparatively valueless^ The stalks of the sweet sorts may 
be made to furnish some food, but not nearly so much as 
sorghum (see p. 216). Green corn fodder will of course 
be partially consumed by swine. They will also find succu- 
lence in corn ensilage, but no large amount of food apart 
from the grain. 

For horses, fodder corn has a high feeding value. 
When it is grown so thickly that the ears are half the size 
or less, it makes excellent fodder for young horses in the 
growing stage, idle horses and brood mares. It may even 
form half the fodder ration for horses that are worked mod- 
erately. Even the stover, quite suitable for growing colts 



FOOD FROM CURED FODDERS 21 5 

and idle horses, may sometimes form a part of the ration 
of working horses. Pound for pound, good stover has been 
found to have a feeding vakie about equal to timothy. 
Shredding stover will usually insure a larger consumption 
of the fodder by cattle and horses, and the same is true of 
running it through a cutting box. Feeding tests have 
shown that an average acre of corn stover well preserved is 
fully equal in feeding value to an average acre of timothy 
hay. 

Sorghum fodder. — Sorghum has proved valuable as a 
fodder in regions too dry for the successful growth of corn. 
But where corn may be profitably grown, it is not probable 
that it will supplant the former as a fodder plant since it is 
more delicate than corn when young and it also involves 
more labor to keep it clean in the early stages of growth. 
In certain areas of the dry West, it is much used as a fod- 
der plant, but in states further east it is not prized so highly. 
The feeding value of sorghum, judged from the standpoint 
of nutrients, is much the same as that of corn with the dif- 
ference that sorghum has more sugar and less starch. Con- 
trasted with corn fodder, sorghum will in many instances, 
produce a larger tonnage per acre, is not so easily harmed 
b; exposure when harvested, and is more palatable because 
of the high sugar content that it contains. But it heats in 
the stack much more readily than corn, and after the stalks 
have frozen and thawed out again, the juices still- remaining 
in them become more or less acid to its detriment as a fod- 
der. Its highest feeding value occurs in the period between 
the maturing of the crop and the advent of hard freezing 
weather. It may be also made into good ensilage if allowed 
to become practically mature before putting it into the silo. 

^3' cattle, young and old, sorghum, especially when of 
fine growth, is much relished, when fed from early maturity 
until the ground freezes solid. To obtain fine growth, it 
must be grown thickly in rows not distant, or on the plan 
followed in growing grain. It is usually fed to cattle by 
drawing it from the shocks or cocks in the field where it 



2l6 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

grew and strewing it on a grass pasture. But it may also be 
fed in mangers or feed boxes in the stables or yards. The 
aim should be to feed it in conjunction with leguminous 
hay, because of its highly carbonaceous character. Sor- 
ghum bagasse, the substance which remains after the juices 
have been removed for the production of syrup, has consid- 
erable value as a fodder for cattle, should facilities for feed- 
ing it be present. 

For sheep, sorghum fodder of fine quality, frequently 
spoken of as sorghum hay, is quite as valuable as in feeding 
cattle, and it may be fed to them also on the pastures or by 
strewing it in clean paddocks. But there would be much 
waste in feeding coarsely grown sorghum to sheep. When 
the stalks are not too coarse, both sheep and cattle will con- 
sume sorghum with but little waste. The waste is usually 
less than in the case of corn fodder. As with cattle, the aim 
should be to feed hay of some legume once a day when feed- 
ing sorghum hay. 

In feeding szvine, sorghum fodder has been made to 
render good service. For such a use, coarse stalks are bet- 
ter than fine. They usually contain more juice relatively 
and more sugar. When feeding upon them, swine simply 
extract the juices, leaving the stalks a mass of shreds. 
When stalks are fed to sheep or cattle so coarse in character 
that much of the coarser portions are left uneaten, if swine 
can be given access to the feed yards at suitable seasons, 
they turn to good account the food thus rejected. Some con- 
centrate rich in protein, as shorts or bran, should accompany 
such feeding. 

For feeding ^torses, in .some areas as in the semi-arid 
region, sorghum is much used as hay. If in such areas 
sorghum hay may be made to alternate with alfalfa, the 
combination is a good one. Where this cannot be done, 
some .such concentrate as wheat bran fed along with the 
grain would improve the ration. Horses are quite as fond 
of sorghum as other classes of live stock and because of this, 
it may be turned to good account in feeding them. 



FOOD FROM CURED FODDERS 2iy 

Non-saccharine sorghum fodders. — The chief of the 
non-saccharine sorghums grown for fodder in the United 
States are : Kafir corn, Jerusalem corn, durra and Milo 
maize. Of these, Kafir corn in one or the other of its vari- 
eties is by far the most extensively grown. Broom corn, 
much akin to these plants, may also be grown for fodder, 
and also pearl millet, although it is not strictly speaking a 
non-saccharine sorghum. Teosinte also bears some resem- 
blance to them in its growth, but it also is not really a non- 
saccharine sorghum. The growth of these plants, unless it 
be broom corn, is confined chiefly to areas that are con- 
sidered too dry for the safe and abundant production of 
corn and sweet sorghum. All these plants are less high])' 
relished than sweet sorghum, and are so far less valuable 
for feeding. 

For cattle, Kafir corn is extensively used as a fodder in 
areas where it is much grown. Its value for such feeding 
is much influenced by the way in which it has been grown 
and in which it is fed. When grown thickly and fed from 
the sheaf or cock, it contains more or less seed, which, of 
course, adds to its palatability and feeding value. When 
the fodder only is fed after the heads have been removed 
from a crop grown primarily for the grain, not a little of 
the coarser portion will be rejected. The palatability of 
such fodder will be so far improved by shredding, that its 
consumption will be much increased, thus reducing the 
waste, and because of the dry conditions amid which it 
grows, Kafir corn does not usually spoil readily in the 
shredded form. Because of the relatively small amount of 
protein which this fodder contains, it is important when 
practicable that it shall be fed in conjunction with alfalfa, 
as the latter can usually be grown on areas favorable to 
the growth of Kafir corn. 

To sheep, when fed as fodder after the grain has been 
removed, much of it will be rejected unless when shred- 
ded, because of the stocky character of the growth. When 
grown like grain it makes more suitable fodder for sheep. 



2l8^ FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

When fed to cattle, it ought to be fed in conjunction or 
alternating with leguminous fodder, as for instance, alfalfa 
or cowpea hay. 

In feeding szvine, Kafir corn fodder is of but little use. 
In this respect it would be about on a par with corn stalks 
(see p. 214). But when the crop contains more or less 
seed, swine may consume some of the stalk, especially if 
fed while still possessed of succulence in considerable de- 
gree. 

For horses, Kafir corn fodder in certain areas serves a 
useful purpose. As when feeding cattle, it is more valu- 
able when the stalks are not coarse. With horses as with 
cattle and sheep, it may form fully half the fodder fed 
when fed in conjunction with leguminous fodders. 

What has been said about Kafir corn will apply in the 
main to Jerusalem corn and durra. These are quite stocky 
in growth, even more so than Kafir corn. As they are 
grown chiefly for the grain, fodder from them is a very 
secondary consideration. Milo maize, except in the dwarf 
varieties, is of much taller growth and has more abundant 
leaves around the portion of the stalk from which the seed 
head emerges. In the experiments conducted by the au- 
thor, it was found that Milo maize was eaten by cattle even 
with as much avidity as sweet sorghum. When fed as fod- 
der, these plants are more commonly grown thickly and are 
fed from the cock. 

Broom corn, which grows up very quickly, may be 
used for fodder, but when thus fed should be grown for the 
purpose. When grown for the brush to be used in making 
brooms, the stalks-'are usually ploughed under where they 
grew. Other plants of this class are considered more valu- 
able than broom corn in furnishing fodder, hence it is 
scarcely ever grown for such a use. 

Pearl millet may be made to produce enormous crops 
of fodder in the milder portions of the continent. In ex- 
periments conducted by the author, however, the live stock 
did not take kindly to the fodder. Tiiey did not relish it 



FOOD FROM CURED FODDERS 2I9 

nearly so well as corn, sorghum, Kafir corn or Milo maize. 
Its growth for fodder, therefore, where any of these plants 
can be grown in good form is not to be commended. 

Tcosinte produces an enormous amount of long, slen- 
der leaves. A large tonnage of fodder may be obtained per 
acre from one or more cuttings in the season, but, owing 
to the character of the growth, it is not easily handled nor 
readily cured, nor does it seem to be more highly relished 
than pearl millet. . However useful, therefore, it may prove 
for regions far south, its growth is not to be recommended 
for fodder in the northern or central states. 

Straw as fodder. — Straw from the small cereal grains, 
so generally used for bedding, is also frequently used for 
fodder. When used as fodder, it should usually be as a 
part of the fodder ration only, owing to the large bulk 
which it possesses in proportion to the nutrition and also 
to the large amount of the crude fibre which it contains. 
Although the feeding value of nearly all kinds of straw is 
low relatively, it may frequently be fed with profit to ma- 
ture or store animals that are being simply carried 
through the winter, or along with concentrates to cheapen 
the ration, when hay is dear. The necessity for and the ad- 
vantage from feeding straw, is largely dependent on the rel- 
ative value of other fodders. Straw has considerable value 
for feeding on the farms of New England and on those of 
the eastern provinces of Canada, while in wheat growing 
areas of the American and Canadian Northwest, it is usu- 
ally burned to get rid of it. Rye, wheat, barley, speltz, 
oats, peas, beans and flax are the principal sources from 
which straw is obtained in America. 

The fccdiuf^ I'ahic of straw is much influenced by 
what may be termed its physical condition, by the way in 
which it is cured and by the extent to which it has been in- 
jured by such diseases as rust. The physical condition of 
straw has reference among other things to the stage of ma- 
turity at which it was cut, the fineness of stem and abun- 
dance of leaves, and the extent to which beards are present 



220 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

or absent. Straw cut at early maturity is much better rel- 
ished than when cut late and has less crude fibre. The finer 
the stems and the more abundant the leaves, the more highly 
is straw relished. Beards in it are more or less objec- 
tionable as they sometimes influence mastication adversely, 
especially when the crop is fully matured, as harshness, so 
to speak, in the beards, is enhanced by increasing maturity. 
The methods of curing straw affect it similarly to the way 
in which methods affect the curing of hay. When straw is 
overcured and bleached by exposure, live stock do not care 
to eat it and heavy rains wash out of it soluble nutrients. 
The feeding value of pea and bean straw may be almost 
destroyed by such exposure, and to a less degree that of 
oat straw. Such parasitical diseases as rust may greatly 
lessen the value of straw. Smut acts similarly and also 
mildew, which frequently attacks some kinds of leguminous 
plants. It may not be safe to say that straw thus affected 
will produce positive troubles in digestion, but it is safe to 
say that such visitations affect its palatability adverselv in 
proportion as they are present. 

The composition of straw, as may be expected, differs 
much with the class, the variety, the soil in which it is 
grown, the nature of the stand, whether grown alone or in 
combination, and whether leguminous or otherwise. Rye 
straw stands lowest in feeding value because of its unpala- 
table and woody character, unless in the case of speltz. 
Next in feeding value is wheat straw, based on palatability 
and nutrients. Then follow oat straw, flax straw, pea 
straw and bean straw in the order named. Varieties of the 
same kind of grain, naturally of fine growth and leafy, fur- 
nish straw more valuable than those opposite. Soils well 
supplied with nitrogen furnish straw more rich in protein 
than those ill supplied with the same. A thick fine stand of 
grain furnishes more palatable fodder than a stand thin and 
coarse. Straw from grains grown together furnishes a vari- 
ety, and hence larger quantities will be eaten of some of 
them at least, than if grown alone. The straw of legumes, 



FOOD FROM CURED FODDERS 221 

as peas for instance, differs from the straw of other cereals 
much as clover hay differs from that made from the 
grasses, that is, it is richer in protein and is more palatable. 

For stock — Straw is by no means equally well adapted 
to the feeding- of the various classes of farm animals. It is 
better adapted relatively to the feeding of ruminants than 
to feeding horses or mules, owing to the relatively larger 
stomach of the former and to the greater length and com- 
plexity of their digestive canal, which gives them more time 
and greater power to digest bulky products of low relative 
nutrition. Notwithstanding, straw may furnish a consid- 
erable proportion of the fodder ration of work horses when 
occasion calls for it, providing the amount of the concen- 
trates is increased so as to furnish the requisite nutrition. 
Horses that are idle may ^ be entirely, or almost entirely, 
wintered on good straw of certain of the cereals. Cattle 
that are being fattened and cows in milk may also utilize 
considerable quantities, providing concentrates are used to 
maintain equilibrium in nutrients. The free and judicious 
use of straw may frequently effect a considerable saving in 
the wintering of young cattle beyond calfhood without ap- 
parently checking growth, and, as with idle horses, straw 
alone, or almost alone, may be made to sustain cattle at rest, 
for considerable periods. Sheep utilize straw to better ad- 
vantage even than cattle. They can more readily pick out 
the finer portions. Straw fodder is quite unsuited to the 
needs of swine. 

Rye straw is so unpalatable and woody, that it ranks 
low in feeding value. In nutrients it is fully ecjual to 
wheat straw, but is not equal to it in palatability. The 
economy of forcing animals to eat rye straw unless in in- 
stances when fodder is scarce and dear is at least open to 
question 

Spelta strazv is somewhat more valuable than rye straw 
for feeding, but the hard, stiff character of the straw and 
beards present discounts its feeding value not a little. 



222 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Jllicat strazv when bright and good may, under certaui 
conditions, form a very considerable proportion of the diet 
of cattle, sheep and horses in winter, but cattle and sheep 
that are being fattened, cows in milk and working horses 
should not be required to consume it in large quantities, 
owing to its low protein content, its relatively low digesti- 
bility and its want of palatability. 

Barley straiu is somewhat more valuable than wheat 
straw. It is eaten with more relish than the former. 
Nevertheless, what has been said of wheat straw will apply 
in a considerable degree to barley straw. Both barley and 
wheat straw may be made to form a considerable part of 
the fodder fed along with heavy grain feeding. 

Oat stra:^' is in nearly all respects more valuable than 
wheat and barley straw. In fattening cattle and sheep, and 
in feeding milch cows, also working horses, it may fre- 
quently furnish half the fodder ration, and in wintering 
store stock it may furnish the sole fodder ration. When 
bright and clean it is eaten with a relish, and when available 
may be fed so as to economize in the feeding of more ex- 
pensive hay. 

Flax stra-cC has considerable feeding value as the analy- 
sis shows. Live stock are fond of it and will eat it in 
considerable quantities when well cured. The small grains 
which are blown out into the chaff increase its feeding val- 
ue. Flax straw like the grain, though to a much less ex- 
tent, tends to relax the bowels. The objection has been 
raised to flax straw that because of the toughness of its 
fibre, it tends to disturb digestion by forming indigestible 
masses of the nature of impact substances, but the facts do 
not sustain the objection. The feeding of flax straw does 
away with the objection to burying it in the soil because of 
its slow decay in climates with insufficient rainfall. 

Pea sfrazv, when of fine growth and properly harvested 
and cured, ranks almost as high for feeding as clover hay, 
but in moist climates it is frequently injured in the curing, 
as it is easily damaged by rain. Exposure to two or three 



FOOD FROM CURED FODDERS 223 

showers in succession but with an interval between them, 
will so lower the palatability of the straw that it becomes of 
little account for feeding. The nutrients, as with clover 
hay thus exposed, are also measurably lost. Pea straw has 
special adaptation for being fed to sheep which are so fond 
of it that previous to the lambing season good pea straw 
may be the only fodder required. It may also form the bulk of 
the fodder fed to cattle that are being carried through the 
winter, and a part of that fed to milch cows. Horses also 
are fond of it, but the dust which frequently accumulates on 
the plants while growing and sometimes in curing renders it 
more or less unsuitable for the prolonged feeding of horses. 
]\Iachine threshing also lowers the feeding value since it 
breaks up the straw and removes many of the leaves. 

Bean straiv is possessed of high relative feeding value, 
but the yield of straw to the acre is proportionately small. 
As much of this product consists of leaves and pods, the 
proportion rejected when fed is not usually large'. The 
straw is also more commonly well saved as in order to 
insure good quality in the grain, it is necessary to harvest 
promptly when mature and to protect the crop as far as pos- 
sible from injury by rain. When available, bean straw 
stands high in favor as a fodder for sheep, and it may also 
be fed with decided benefit to cattle. The earth that some- 
times adheres to the product is an objection to feeding it to 
horses. The straw of the horse bean is considerably used 
in feeding live stock in Scotland and some other countries, 
but in England it is not so commonly fed. 

Straw of good quality and well cured is more valuable 
for feeding than hay, coarse and ill cured. When fodders 
are scarce and dear, the harvesting of straw fodders with a 
view to conserve their good feeding properties is well wor- 
thy of attention. It is frequently admissible to use certain 
varieties of straw as principal portion of the fodder fed in 
order that hay may be sold when the price is dear. But 
when straw is made to supplement hay, more grain must be 
fed when grain is required. 



224 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

When grasses are sown with a cereal nurse crop, it 
sometimes happens as in seasons of good growth that grass 
is abundantly present in the grain, and when it is, the straw 
thereof is nearly as valuable as hay. But when grass is thus 
abundantly present, the yield of grain may be lowered. 
Timothy sown in a grain crop in the autumn, in some in- 
stances furnishes a large proportion of the reaped crop and 
especially when the grain crop partially fails. 

Chaff from wheat and oats is more valuable than an 
equal weight of straw, not only in food constituents but also 
in palatability. Wheat and oat chaff are usually eaten with 
avidity by farm animals, but rye and barley chaff, especially 
the latter, are less valuable because of the presence of the 
beards. Some feeders of barley straw aim to separate the 
chaff from the straw as far as this may be practicable. Even 
where the straw is used solely for bedding, the plan which 
saves the chaff for feeding when practicable is to be com- 
mended. 

When straw is fed in the uiicut form and especially 
when the supply is plentiful, the amount fed should be so 
Uberal that the unconsumed portion may be used for litter. 
This method of providing litter is to be commended, as 
much of the straw thus fed is turned to higher account 
than if the whole were used as litter. This method of us- 
ing straw is especially to be recommended in feeding sheep, 
as they are sure to pick out and consume the finer portions. 
The uneaten portion is thus used to furnish fresh litter 
every day. 

Wiien straw furnishes a large or principal portion of 
the ration for live stock, it frequently tends to produce more 
or less a dry condition of the faeces indicative of constipa- 
tion. When a limited amount of field roots can be fed daily 
along with the straw, this condition will be corrected. Ten 
to 12 pounds of roots fed daily will suffice for a mature cat- 
tle beast. Where roots are not available, oil cake will an- 
swer the same end. It also adds protein, so much lacking in 
nearly all kinds of straw. 



CHAPTER XII. 
FOOD FROM CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS. 

The seeds of plants are primarily the source of all the 
concentrates fed to farm animals. These are discussed in 
Chapter XII from the standpoint of their feeding value, and 
uses. The small cereals discussed include: (i) Wheat; (2) 
oats; (3) barley; (4) rye; (5) peas; (6) buckwheat and 
(7) speltz. 

The seeds distinctly leguminous considered are: (i) 
The common field bean; (2) soy beans; (3) the horse 
bean; (4) cowpeas and (5) vetches. 

Those usually primarily grown for oil production and 
included are: (i) Flax; (2) cottonseed and (3) sunflower 
seed. 

Seeds discussed as derived from the sorghums are: ( 1) 
Sweet sorghum seed; (2) Kafir corn seed and (3) other 
non-saccharine sorghum seeds. 

Those discussed as miscellaneous are : ( i ) Corn or 
maize; (2) broom corn seed and (3) millet seed. Rice is 
not discussed because of the small extent to which it is 
fed to stock save in the by-products obtained from it. 

Wheat. — Wheat in its many varieties is more common- 
ly grown primarily to provide food for man. So important is 
the place which it fills in this respect that it has been called 
the ''staflf of life." The increase in its growth, therefore, will 
probably keep pace with increase in population in all civi- 
lized communities where the conditions are favorable to 
growing it. Although it furnishes an excellent food for all 
kinds of domestic animals on the farm, it is generally con- 
sidered too valuable for being thus fed unless when of low 
grade. But its by-products, especially bran and middlings, 
comprising nearly one-third by weight of the cereal, are of 
great value in feeding live stock, and are always likely to be 
much sought after for such a use. 



226 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Wheat, though a hardy grahi, is not so hardy as rye, 
nor can it be grown in so short a season as barley. The 
macaroni varieties are among the largest yielding sorts and 
have more of adaptation for being grown under hard and 
dry conditions than other varieties. Vigorous and pro- 
ductive varieties may frequently be grown with profit along 
with oats or barley, or both, to provide food for stock. The 
chief advantage from growing these grains thus consists in 
the larger yields that are usually obtained. Wheat is of 
two classes, winter and spring, and each has its own sphere 
for most successful growth. Usually it ought to be fed in 
the ground form except to sheep, otherwise a considerable 
proportion of it will not be digested. Because of the sticky 
and pasty character of the meal, the outcome of its high 
gluten content, the aim should be to mix it with some coarse 
substance as bran, when it constitutes the sole grain fed. 

For calves and groiving cattle, wheat furnishes an ex- 
cellent food, when the price will admit of its being so fed. 
To the former it may be fed alone. The addition of oats, 
however, to the extent of one-half the grain part of the ra- 
tion, will improve it except in the case of calves during the 
first two or three weeks after they begin to take meal. 

For beef cattle, ground wheat has been found about 
equal pound for pound, to ground corn. When the two are 
fed in conjunction, however, they make a better food than 
either fed alone, especially when the wheat element prepon- 
derates during the first part of the fattening period and the 
corn element during the last. The bran present in ground 
wheat exerts an influence more or less helpful in keeping 
the bowels in tone. Some bran added, also oil meal, makes 
it less sticky in character. 

For cozvs giving milk, wheat meal fed with suitable ad- 
juncts has been found fully equal to corn meal. Mixed 
grains, however, of which wheat meal is a part, will doubt- 
less prove superior to wheat meal fed alone for prolonged 
feeding. But for milk production, the by-products of wheat 
are more suitable than wheat, as they contain a higher 



FOOD I'ROU CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS 227 

relative protein content, and usually they are considerably 
cheaper. It is in order to feed a higher proportion of wheat 
meal to cows giving milk than would be admissible of corn 
meal, the fodder adjuncts being the same. 

For sheep, wheat is superior to corn when fed to young 
lambs and breeding ewes. Wheat and oats in any desired 
proportions make an excellent grain food for them. It is 
also superior to corn when fed alone or as a factor during 
the early stages of fattening, but corn will result in some- 
what quicker gains in the later stages of the same. It is ex- 
cellent as a food for preparing sheep for show purposes, 
as it produces flesh, plentiful and firm. 

For young and growing szvine, wheat is much superior 
to corn. For swine that are being fattened, they are about 
equal, pound for pound, in production, but the quality of 
the meat made from wheat is superior. Tests have shown 
that greater gains have been secured from feeding ground 
wheat and corn or barley to swine that are being fattened, 
than from feeding either alone. Such swine should produce 
one pound of increase from rather less than five pounds of 
wheat, and greater relative increase should result from feed- 
ing it to pigs previous to the fattening season. It should 
be fed ground and soaked in milk or water for six to 12 
hours, according to the season. Skim milk and ground 
wheat make an excellent food for young pigs. If wheat is 
fed unground to swine it should be soaked 18 to 24 hours. 
Thus prepared, it had been found nearly if not quite equal 
to ground wheat when the cost of the grinding is also con- 
sidered. If fed in the natural state, a large per cent will 
appear in the voidings. Although swine will make a good 
growth while gleaning amid wheat stubbles where they con- 
sume the fallen heads, they do not fatten readily on un- 
threshed wheat, though it should be plentifully supplied to 
them in the sheaf. 

For feeding horses, wheat has not been much tested. 
The tests made have tended to show that when wheat has 



228 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

been fed as the sole grain ration to working horses, a con- 
siderable proportion of the grain was voided undigested, 
and in time there was a decided tendency to digestive de- 
rangement. It would seem probable, however, that wheat 
ground and fed with oats ground or unground, up to the ex- 
tent of one-half the ration, would make an excellent grain 
food for horses. 

Contrasted with corn, it may be said that wheat is su- 
perior; (i) As a food for young animals and for cows in 
milk, since it is richer in protein and ash; (2) as being a 
safer grain food during the early stages of fattening, be- 
cause it is relatively lower in its fat content, and, therefore, 
does not tend so much to put animals off feed; (3) it is 
equal or about equal to corn in making increase with cat- 
tle, sheep and swine while being fattened, and it furnishes 
meat somewhat superior to that furnished by corn, having 
more muscle in it. 

Corn is superior to wheat: (i) In its fattening quali- 
ties; (2) in that it may usually be fed without grinding and 
(3) in that it may usually be obtained more cheaply. They 
are about equal in palatability. Wheat is grown over a 
wider area than corn and can be grown in a drier and cooler 
climate. While it is probable that it will seldom be found 
advisable in the future to feed wheat of good quality to 
stock, because of the price, it will always be in order to 
feed damaged wheat as when shrunken by rust or by frost. 
Such wheat has a higher muscle-producing content than 
good wheat. In some localities, it may be found that grow- 
ing wheat with other grain for food for stock will be the 
cheapest method of obtaining bran or its equivalent. 

Oats. — Viewed from the standpoint of general adapta- 
tion for feeding live stock, no cereal grown in this country 
will compare with the oat. It is preeminently the grain 
food for horses. In milk production, it is almost equally 
valuable. It may be made to constitute a large proportion 
of the ration in fattening cattle and sheep, and it is useful 
as a factor in feeding swine, but not so useful relatively as 



FOOD FROM CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS 22() 

in feeding other classes of stock because of the relatively 
large amount of hull which it possesses, ill adapted to the 
digestion of swine. In suitability for young stock, it is 
without a rival among concentrated foods. No other cereal 
can be fed to stock with entire safety or in quantities so 
large for an equally prolonged period. It is also a valuable 
breakfast food for man. 

The high relative value of the oat for general feeding 
is the outcome of the high palatability which it possesses, 
the equilibrium in the nutrients which give it balance as a 
food, and the relation between the hull and kernel which 
gives it a proper amount of concentration and not too much 
for safe feeding. The chief obstacle in the way of its more 
extensive use on the farm is the high relative value which it 
usually commands on the market. 

While the oat grows reasonably well in some parts of 
all the states of the union, it grows much better relatively 
in the northern states. All the provinces of Canada have 
high adaptation for growing oats. The weight of a measured 
bushel varies from 20 pounds in some varieties in the south 
to 50 pounds in others in the northwestern states and prov- 
inces of Canada. As the adaptation for corn production de- 
creases because of low temperature, that for oat produc- 
tion increases. To provide food for stock, the crop may 
be grown alone, with wheat or barley or with both. 

For calves and groii.'ing cattle, oats are a grand food. 
In the ground form, they are excellent for young calves and 
for calves more advanced in age, they are equally good. For 
such feeding they may be fed alone with wheat bran, ground 
barley or ground corn, according to the degree of the flesh 
sought and in proportions to suit the needs of the animals. 
When fed alone or with bran, the calves may be allowed to 
partake of them at will, when the cost is not too great. To 
young cattle that are older, about the only limitation that 
may be put on the feeding of oats is that which is usually 
present, resulting from the relatively high value of this 
cereal. 



230 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

For beef cattle, they make an excellent adjunct to corn, 
barley or rye, rather than a substitute for these, when 
ground and mixed with one or more of the foods named. 
The hulls as in the case of bran add so much to the bulk 
that the juices of the stomach more readily penetrate the 
meal thus fed. When oats are not too high, they may con- 
stitute from one-half to one-fourth of the entire grain fed, 
more being given during the early stages of fattening and 
less later. 

For cows in milk, oats are at least as valuable as bran, 
pound for pound. If there is a difference, ground oats is 
probably the superior. The extent to which they may be 
fed to cows in milk depends in a considerable degree on 
market values. They may be made to constitute the whole 
of the grain fed or any part of it. Even when oats are 
somewhat more expensive than corn, it will be found profir- 
able to combine them with corn in the ration. With such 
fodders as clover hay and corn stover fed in conjunction, 
wheat bran, ground oats and ground corn, barley, or rye, 
fed in about equal parts by weight, make an excellent grain 
ration. 

For sheep, oats make a most excellent grain food. 
There is probably no better grain food on which to start 
young lambs than ground oats with the hulls sifted out. 
Even unsifted, they serve the purpose reasonably well, and 
later it is not necessary even to grind them. For milk-lambs 
that are being fattened, oats, cracked corn and oil cake in 
the nut form or as meal, in the proportions of 2, 2 and i 
parts by weight, make a suitable grain ration. To lambs 
that are being fattened, oats, cracked corn and oil cake in 
food, in quantity from one-fourth of a pound upward daily, 
or they may furnish the bulk of the grain given, the other 
part consisting of wheat, rye, barley, corn or peas, or of a 
mixture of these. To breeding ewes, they may be similarly 
fed up to the amount of one pound per day, before the 
lambing season, and practically without stint, subsequently, 
as long as the ewes are on dry feed. To sheep that are 



FOOD FROM CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS 23 1 

being fattened, they may constitute the sole grain ration, 
under some conditions, but gains considerably higher will 
result if corn is fed along with them. From the standpoint 
of increase, it would probably be within bounds to say that 
the proportion should vary from two-thirds oats and one- 
third corn at the commencement of the fattening season to 
two-thirds corn and one-third oats at its close. No grain 
food has higher adaptation for sheep, while they are being 
led up to full feed than oats. Other grain, as wheat, barley, 
rye or peas may be substituted for corn, but except in the 
case of wheat, the results will not usually be quite so good. 
For szvine, and especially for young swine, the adapta- 
tion is not high, unless the hulls are sifted out. When so 
sifted, the reverse is true. For swine subsequent to wean- 
ing, the adaptation of unsifted oats is not more than medium, 
and for swine that are being fattened, ground oats are con- 
siderably inferior to corn. When the price will admit of so 
feeding them, they make a good food for brood sows that 
are nursing pigs. They should -be ground and soaked when 
fed to swine. 

For horses, no substitute has been found that will equal 
them, none has been found so healthful or that will give 
and maintain the same degree of mettle and staying power. 
Oats, therefore, usually fed unground except to young foals 
or to horses whose teeth have failed, may make the sole 
grain food for all animals of. this class, or they may make 
a part, preferably a principal part, usually not less than two- 
thirds of the same. For American feeding, when the prices 
will admit of it, the other third may be corn, barley, rye or 
wheat. In some countries of northwestern Europe, horse 
beans are freely fed with oats. More corn may be fed in 
winter, particularly to horses and mules at work, than would 
be advisable in summer. The opinion that newly matured 
oats should not be fed in very large quantities to horses is 
held by many, but all authorities are not agreed as to 
whether there is hazard in so feedin<^ them. 



232 FEEDING FAKM ANIMALS 

Barley. — Barley, at one time a principal source of food 
for the human family, is grown almost exclusively in the 
United States for brewing and as food for live stock. It has 
been grown successfully as far north as Alaska and as far 
south as the tablelands of New Mexico. In altitudes where 
the grain fails to fully mature, it is sometimes grown and fed 
as hay. Westward from the eastern Rockies and southward 
from Montana where corn and oats do not flourish equally 
well, it is more largely fed to live stock than elsewhere in 
the United States. The relatively high price paid for bright 
barley for brewing tends greatly to restrict its use for feed- 
ing. When stained by unpropitious weather at the harvest 
season, and thus injured for malting, it is not injured, at 
least to any appreciable extent, for feeding. For the latter 
purpose, it is an excellent substitute for corn where corn 
cannot be successfully grown. 

For calves and grozving cattle, barley should seldom or 
never form the sole grain ration, unless when fed sparingly 
with adjuncts rich in protein. It seldom constitutes more 
than one-fourth to one-third of the entire meal ration fed, 
the other portion being bran alone, oats alone or both with 
a trace of oil cake when profitably obtainable. Other ni- 
trogenous foods, as gluten meal or cotton seed, may some- 
times be substituted for bran and oats. 

For beef cattle, ground barley furnishes an excellent 
meal adjunct. With luguminous fodders as clover and 
alfalfa, it may be fed when the season is short rather than 
long, so as to furnish up to three-fourths of the entire meal 
ration, the other portion being preferably ground oats or 
wheat bran. Foi^ prolonged feeding, corn added to the 
barley in any proportion desired, somewhat improves the 
ration in palatability and also for fattening. 

For cozvs in milk, ground barley has been found about 
equal to corn. It is somewhat richer in protein than corn, 
but has more crude fibre and is not quite so palatable. It 
is too concentrated to furnish the exclusive grain food for 
milch cows, but gives excellent results when fed with 



FOOD FROM CEREALS AXD OTHER SEEDS 233 

ground oats or wheat bran, the barley furnishing about one- 
third of the grain by weight or even a larger proportion. 
The mixture of oats and barley may be obtained in many 
instances with greater profit by growing the two together ; 
when fed freely with large quantities of field roots, it tends 
to counteract undue laxity of the bowels. 

For sheep, unground barley is valuable when fed in 
suitable combinations. Fed as part of the grain ration to 
lambs while nursing or subsequently, especially in conjunc- 
tion with oats, the results are satisfactory. It may suitably 
form from one-third to one-half the grain ration for breed- 
ing ewes, the other portion being preferably unground oats 
and a small proportion of wheat bran or oil cake. To sheep 
that are being fattened, the fodder being rich in protein, it 
may furnish the sole grain ration, but when not less than 
one-third of the grain ration is oats or corn, according to 
the advancement of the feeding, better results may be 
looked for. 

For s^i'ine, barley stands at the head of all cereals in 
producing high quality pork, because of the firmness and 
flavor which it imparts. Experiments carefully conducted 
have shown that ground barley when fed to swine produced 
8 per cent less increase than corn. Ground and soaked, it 
has special adaptation for being fed along with skim milk 
and clover, alfalfa or vetch pasture up to the fattening pe- 
riod. During the fattening period, it may furnish the sole 
grain food, but corn in such proportion as will suit the end 
sought will add to the palatability of the food, and conse- 
quently will improve the gains. Barley will probably be 
much more used in the United States for feeding swine as 
it is now in Canada, when the bacon idea in pork production 
becomes more pronounced. The bald varieties, pound for 
pound, should also be more valuable than the other varieties, 
because of the less amount of hull in the former. 

For horses, barley stands next to oats in suitability as 
a grain food. Where the prices will admit of so doing, it 
may be used as the principal or even sole grain ration, as 



234 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

has been shown in the practice of Bedouin Arabs, of 
certain peoples of northwestern Europe and now in CaH- 
fornia, and other mountain states. It has been claimed that 
barley, pound for pound, is more valuable as a food for 
horses than oats, because of the much larger percentage ot 
hull in oats, a claim that has not been sustained by evidence 
based on experiment. It is not equal to oats for colts, being 
somewhat lower in protein and ash, nor is it so palatable as 
oats for long continued feeding. It may, however, be prof- 
itably fed with oats to working horses, either whole or in 
the crushed form in any proportions that the attendant cir- 
cumstances will justify. Steamed until the grain has swollen 
to maximum possible distension, and fed with a little bran 
or oil cake added to it as frequently as may be found nec- 
essary, tends to make flesh quickly and to improve the coat, 
as when preparing horses for exhibition. 

Rye. — Rye is probably the hardiest of the cereals, pro- 
duces the best crops on poor land and grows over the widest 
area. It is much grown on lands too low in fertility to yield 
good crops of wheat, oats or barley. It is grown not only to 
furnish grain but also pasture and green manure. Of the two 
classes, winter and spring rye, the former is grown to a far 
greater extent than the latter. In Europe, especially central 
Europe, it is much grown as food for man and also for live 
stock, including horses. In the United States, it is grown 
almost entirely to furnish food for stock. It may be grown 
successfully in almost every state in the Union. While its 
constituents are much the same as those of wheat in prac- 
tical feeding, it has been found from 5 to lo per cent less 
valuable, owing, it' is thought, to the less degree of the pala- 
tability. It is fed to horses and sheep in the unground form 
but is ground when fed to cattle and also to swine, except 
when swine are allowed to harvest it in the field. 

To calves and growing cattle, the aim should be to feed 
rye in conjunction with some other grain product. What 
has been said about feeding barley to these classes of ani- 
mals will apply about equally to rye (see p. 2^2). It should 



FOOD FROM CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS "' 235 

seldom form more than one-third of the meal fed in pro- 
longed feeding. 

To beef cattle, rye may be fed with much freedom, 
where the necessity exists for so feeding it. This necessity 
is, however, seldom present, as corn is usually cheaper, 
hence the larger the proportion of the corn fed, the more 
economical is the ration. It is also better relished. Wheat 
bran in the proportions of say one part by weight to three 
or four parts rye meal tends much to improve the ration. 
It renders the meal less adhesive and adds to the protein 
content. The same is measurably true of ground oats which, 
however, are usually too valuable to be much used in such 
feeding. Other nitrogeneous by-products as oil cake may 
sometimes be fed in the place of bran, but the necessity of 
adding these to the rye meal and the advantage from the 
same are much dependent on the extent to which protein is 
present in the fodder. 

To cows giving milk, rye meal may be fed in reason- 
able quantities, but if more than 3 pounds are fed per cow 
daily, hazard may be present that the quality of the butter 
product will be affected adversely, hence when fed, it is 
common to give a less quantity than that named. Equal 
parts by weight of ground rye, ground oats and wheat bran 
with ordinary fodders make a very suitable grain ration, 
also equal parts of rye, oat and corn meal and wheat bran 
with clover or alfalfa hay. If fed with wheat bran only, 
the bran should furnish not less than one-third of the meal 
ration. 

To lambs, rye is not commonly fed, but may be so fed 
with oats even with benefit, where the latter furnish the 
larger portion of the grain ration. Similarly it may be thus 
fed to breeding ewes and in larger proportions, when the 
roughage is rich in protein elements. To sheep that are 
being fattened, it is not usual, nor would it probably be wise, 
to feed rye, making it more than half the ration for pro- 
longed feeding, since sheep, in common with all other do- 
mestic animals, are less fond and tire of it sooner than of 



22,^ FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

some other kinds of grain. Uye, corn and oats in the pro- 
portion of one, two and one parts respectively make an 
excellent grain ration for sheeu on full feed along with 
clover or alfalfa. 

To swine, rye may be fed about the same as barley (see 
p. 2'i^}^ ) , except that for prolonged feeding, it should not fur- 
nish the sole grain portion, since thus fed, swine tire of it 
more quickly even than of barley. Corn, fed along with it 
in svich proportion as will furnish the quality of pork de- 
sired, will add to the palat.ibility of the food and also in 
some degree to the gains. Experiments conducted in Den- 
mark have shown that rye and barley are almost equal in 
value in making pork, when fed with dairy by-products, 
both with reference to gains and to the quality of the pork. 
In the tests made in that country, it was found that corn 
made pork less firm as a rule, in proportion as it was fed, 
and therefore less suitable for high class bacon. In ordi- 
nary fattening, however, the aim should be to add corn 
freely to the rye. 

To horses, rye is seldom fed in the United States and 
largely for the reason probably, that it is seldom sufficiently 
plentiful and cheap to admit of feeding it thus. Rut it is 
quite suitable for being so fed, especially to horses at work 
in conjunction with oats. A mixture of one-third rye and 
two-thirds oats is suitable for even prolonged feeding. 

Pes. — The peas in the Ignited States, usually desig- 
nated the Canada field pea, should be far more widely grown 
than it is at the present time, because of its excellent feed- 
ing qualities., and also for the reason that it is a legume, 
and, therefore, leaves the hind on which it grew rich in ni- 
trogen. Its protein content is high, hence it has peculiar 
adaptation as food for animaU in ])rocess of development, 
lieing adapted to climates with only moderate summer tem- 
])cratures, the pea grows best in this country in the northern 
states and on reasonably high plateaus of the mountain 
states. Nearly all the provinces of Canada have high adap- 
tation for the growing of pea^. C)ne chief obstacle to the 



FOOD FRO.M CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS 237 

extension of their growth in the United States is the labor 
involved in harvesting" them, which is more relatively than 
with other cereals, except corn. This may be met by growing 
peas and oats together in proportions that will not preclude 
the harvesting of the mixed crop with the binder. The mix- 
ture thus grown furnishes an excellent grain food for many 
kinds of feeding. The relatively high price of peas in this 
country also stands in the way of their more general use 
in feeding stock. 

To calves and young cattle, peas furnish an excellent 
grain food when fed as a meal adjunct. The meal is heavy 
and lies compactly, hence, when fed to cattle and other ani- 
mals, it should be along with bran, ground oats, corn, bar- 
ley, rye or a mixture of these according to the nature of the 
feeding. Ground peas and oats in equal parts by weight, 
make an excellent meal ration for calves. Later the propor- 
tion of oats or bran, if bran is fed, should be increased, 
chiefly on the score of economy in feeding. 

lo beef cattle, peas may be fed in proportions varying 
from 25 to 75 per cent of the meal fed, the proportion of 
peas being increased with the advance of the feeding period 
when fed with oats. From the standpoint of increase, 
ground peas, oats and corn, barley or rye. in ecjual propor- 
tions by weight, furnish an excellent grain food. Bran may 
be substituted for oats if cheaper. 

For cozi^'s in milk, a mixture of ground peas and oats 
grown together, so that about two-thirds of the mixture 
will be oats, furnishes an ideal grain food. Here also bran 
may be substituted for oats. In northern areas, this mix- 
ture may be readily grown on many farms and it has the 
further value of furnishing fodder that is much relished 
when well saved. 

For sheep that are being fattened, a grain mixture fed 
unground, and consisting of peas and oats, the peas making 
from 25 to 75 per cent of the grain ration according to the 
stage of the fattening, will give excellent results. For 
breeding ewes on dry feed, as much as 50 per cent of the 



238 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

grain fed may be peas, whether fed before or after the lamb- 
ing season. The same mixture is also good for feeding 
lambs, and if the lambs are being forced for the early mar- 
ket, the addition of cracked corn will improve the grain ra- 
tion. On certain plateaus of the Rocky mountain states, the 
fattening of sheep and lambs on mature peas grazed down 
by the sheep, is becoming an industry of no little impor- 
tance. Enough oats are sown with the peas to sustain them. 
The dry autumns in the areas named, make such feeding en- 
tirely feasible and with but little waste. 

For szciiic, peas have special adaptation. A mixture of 
peas and oats ground, or peas and bran soaked from six to 
12 hours according to the weather, furnish a grand food 
for brood sows nursing their young. Unground or ground 
they may be fed with much freedom to brood sows that are 
pregnant, the other portion of the diet consisting largely of 
field roots or pasture. For swine, during the growing pe- 
riod, they may be made to furnish the sole grain supplement 
or a part of it. When swine are grazed on alfalfa or clover 
pasture, e(|ual parts of peas and corn, both fed unground, 
will furnish excellent supplemental grain food. Swine may 
be fattened in the pens or in the fields where they harvest 
the crop, on peas alone. The peas may be fed dry or 
soaked. Peas may also be fed during the fattening period 
along with corn, barley, wheat or rye, so as to form anv 
part of the fattening ration that may be desired. The bar- 
ley and rye, however, must be ground. The few experi- 
ments conducted tend to show that peas make more increase 
than corn, pound for pound, when fed to swine and they 
make a somewhat stiperior quality of pork. 

When swine are fattened on peas harvested by them, 
they may be admitted to the peas, when they have neared 
the maturing stage. They may glean at will after the first 
few days and only require a plentiful supply of water in ad- 
dition. 

In wet climates, peas cannot be profitably gleaned thus, 
as the swine shell out many of the peas and these will sprout 



FOOD FROM CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS 239 

in moist weather, which soon renders tlieni useless for feed- 
ing. In some locahties, however, this method is eminently 
practical. Swine not being fattened should finish the glean- 
ing. 

In some of the western mountain valleys, it is claimed 
that swine can be made to gather their own food all the 
year by growing peas, alfalfa, bald barley and artichokes. 
Some peas, stacked so that they are accessible to the swine 
on alfalfa, during the early summer months, furnish the 
needed grain food at that season. 

To horses, peas are not usually fed to any considerable 
extent. But there is no reason why they should not be fed 
in certain proportions to horses young and old, when suf- 
ficiently plentiful. Peas and oats go well together, the pre- 
ponderating factor being oats. For foals, and even for 
horses, the results will be more satisfactory if the grain has 
been ground. 

Buckwheat. — Buckwheat may be grown in nearly all 
the various states and provinces of Canada. It is not grown 
to any considerable extent, however, in the southern, south- 
western and western states, or in the western provinces of 
Canada. More is grown in the New England states and those 
adjacent to them elsewhere. Maine leads the states in the 
yields obtained, the average for the last ten years being 30 
bushels an acre, whereas for the United States it has been 
less than 20 bushels in the same period. It is a strong point 
in favor of buckwheat that it may be grown as a catch crop 
in the early summer on land that might otherwise be idle. It 
may also be grown successfully on land that has been neg- 
lected or low in fertility. It matures in about 75 days from 
the date of sowing. It is usually fed to live stock in the 
ground form, save when fed to sheep, horses and poultry. Its 
highest adaptation is found in feeding poultry. Owing to the 
demand for it to make flour to be used in making cakes for 
the table, its use as a food for live stock is much circum- 
scribed. 



240 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

To cattle of any kind, buckwheat has not been much 
fed, but may be so fed when it can be spared for such a 
use. Being low in protein and rich in starch, it is better 
adapted relatively for fattening than for milk production. 
When fed for the latter use, it should be with grain or meal 
rich in nitrogen, as for instance, bran. For fattening uses, 
it is preferably fed with some coarse meal, as ground oats, 
since as meal it is dense in character and inclined to be 
clammy when moistened. It is seldom that it may be prof- 
itably fed so as to make more than half the ration. 

For sheep. — Although not much used for the purpose, 
buckwheat may be satisfactorily used in feeding sheep kept 
for breeding or that are being fattened. For a breeding 
flock, the aim should be to feed the buckwheat with such 
grain as oats, the oats preponderating in the ration, but in 
fattening sheep the buckwheat should rather preponderate, 
especially as the fattening period is advanced. 

For szvine, buckwheat is more used than in feeding cat- 
tle, sheep and horses. To swine also it ought to be fed as 
a grain factor rather than as the sole grain food. In ex- 
periments conducted at Ottawa, Canada, more rapid 
growth and gains were made from feeding buckwheat as 
half the ration than when wheat was similarly fed, but to 
make lOO pounds of gain, called for feeding 6 per cent 
more buckwheat. The other half of the ration was meal 
mixed in character. The result shows a relatively high 
feeding value in buckwheat for swine, but it should be re- 
membered that it is rather adapted to feeding for fat than 
for growth. The meal should be well soaked before feed- 
ing it to swine. 

For horses, it has been fed as a conditioner rather than 
for sustenance and growth. It has proved fairly satisfac- 
tory for such a use, as it not only improves the flesh when 
it makes any considerable proportion of the grain ration, 
but it also exercises a marked influence on the glossiness of 
the coat. 



FOOD FROM CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS 24I 

The opinion prevails that when the feeding of buck- 
wheat is prolonged, and especially when it forms any con- 
siderable proportion of the ration, that it tends to induce 
more or less of irritation in the skin and to the extent of be- 
ing a disturbing factor. This opinion wovild seem to rest 
upon a real basis. It is also claimed that the hulls have 
made trouble when buckwheat meal has been fed very freely 
to swine. The hulls are not readily digested. 

Speltz. — This grain is really Emmer, Triticitm dicoc- 
cnm, rather than Triticnm spclta, but it is better known by 
the name speltz or spelt. It has special adaptation for areas 
where the short season for growth and the lack of moisture 
is such as to make the production of the common cereals 
more or less precarious. It is, therefore, grown chiefly in 
the semi-arid belt of the West and in the country adjacent 
thereto. It is more drought resistant than either corn or 
wheat, is not easily injured by rust and does not lodge read- 
ily. Notwithstanding these good qualities, it is not likely 
that it will ever supplant the more common cereals where 
these can be grown at their best, as it is not fully equal to 
these in all round feeding value and, under the conditions 
named, will not prove relatively more productive. It is fed 
in the unground form to sheep and poultry and may be so 
fed to horses, but when fed to other live stock it should first 
be ground. In composition it is somewhat similar to barley, 
but the hull which constitutes about 25 per cent of the grain 
is somewhat more pronounced and it has more crude fibre 
than barley. The trend of experiments shows that it is not 
fully equal to barley in feeding value. 

For calves and cattle, during the growing period, its 
adaptation is much the same as barley only a little below it. 
For continued feeding to the former, a mixture of oats and 
barley in the proportions of two and one respectively, by 
weight, should prove satisfactory. For the latter, the pro- 
portion of speltz may be larger. Along with say 33 per cent 
bran by weight and 5 per cent oil meal or cake, it will 
also prove very suitable. 



242 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

For cattle that are being fattened it has not been mucn 
tested in this country but should be nearly equal to barley. 
It may constitute at least half the grain fed, the other half 
being corn, or wheat when the prices will admit of feeding 
the latter. Five to 20 per cent of wheat bran especially dur- 
ing the early feeding will improve the ration. 

For cozvs in milk, speltz has proved a useful food, but 
not quite equal to barley. It would not be excessive to 
make one-half the grain ration speltz, the other half being 
ground oats or bran or a mixture of the two. Even better 
than the above, especially for cows in low flesh, is a mix- 
ture consisting of equal parts by weight of ground speltz 
and corn. 

For slice p, speltz has been found a valuable adjunct, 
whether fed to lambs at the weaning season, to breed- 
ing flocks or for fattening purposes. For breeding ewes, 
the mixture is improved by adding oats in any propor- 
tion desired or by adding a small percentage of bran. 
The tests in fattening sheep with speltz as the sole 
grain food, have given results diflfering materially. It will 
doubtless be found that much better results will follow when 
corn, wheat or rye is added to the ration, especially the for- 
mer. The proportion of the corn should increase as fatten- 
ing progresses. 

For S7vine, the same objection applies as when feeding 
oats. Because of the large proportion of the hull, ground 
speltz, unsifted, is too coarse a food for young pigs before 
or shortly after the weaning season. It answers better for 
swine that are growing and still brtter for brood sows nurs- 
ing their young. As a fattening food for swine, it is about 
20 per cent less valuable than corn. The aim should 
to add corn or wheat to the ration, especially the former. 
For horses, young or old, like barley, speltz may be fed 
with propriety, but as in the case of barley, the aim should 
be to make oats constitute at least two parts of the ration. 
But for foals, the speltz should be ground. In the semi- 
arid belt, speltz may prove a cheaper feed than oats. 



FOOD FROM CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS 243 

It has been recommended in some instances to feed 
speltz with oats. The mixture may frequently be obtained 
by growing the two together. The advantage in so doing 
may prove very decided. Usually by growing them thus, 
the yield will be increased and on lands where oats are 
much liable to lodge, the speltz will aid in sustaining them. 

Field beans, — The common field bean is somewhat ex- 
tensively grown in certain sections of the northern states 
and in various provinces of Canada. It is grown primarily 
as food for man, hence, unless the beans have taken injury 
during the harvesting from adverse weather or subse- 
quently from heating in storage, they are too valuable to 
permit of their being fed to live stock. However, since they 
stain readily from rain during the harvesting and curing 
process, and since the injury thus sustained greatly depre- 
ciates the market value, the most profitable use that can be 
made of such beans usually is to feed them to live stock. To 
sheep and horses they are more commonly fed unground 
but are ground for cattle and are usually cooked for swine 
and poultry. 

To cattle of any kind in this country they have 
been so little fed that testimony based on experience 
in feeding them is almost entirely wanting. The nutrients 
which they contain give them a high feeding value for pro- 
ducing growth and also milk. But bean meal like pea meal, 
will be improved for feeding by adding bran to lessen its 
density when moistened by saliva. It may also be necessary 
sometimes to introduce the meal gradually to make cattle 
take kindly to it. With corn meal and ground oats or bran 
in the proportions of two, one and two parts respectively, 
it should make a good concentrated food for calves. For 
beef cattle the mixture may be bran or ground oats and corn 
in the proportions of one, one and three parts by weight. 
For cows in milk, with ordinary fodders, bran meal may 
form as much as 2>2) to 50 per cent of the ration. Equal 
parts of ground beans, ground oats and ground corn, by 
weight, should make a very suitable grain ration. 



244 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Sheep are fond of beans in the unground form and 
when fed with suitable grain adjuncts, they make an excel- 
lent food for them. Beans and oats go well together as 
grain food for breeding ewes, but when the fodder is legu- 
minous, the proportion of beans fed should be small or the 
protein in the ration will be excessive. To sheep that are 
being fattened, corn or barley and beans make quick and 
large gains. The beans may form from 25 to 50 per cent of 
the grain ration according to the conditions. 

For groiving siviiie, beans make an excellent ration, 
cooked or ground and soaked, but some other grain as corn 
or barley added, improves the ration. To swine that are be- 
ing fattened, beans and corn in equal parts make an excel- 
lent food. The claim that beans alone will fatten swine as 
quickly and satisfactorily as beans and corn, has been dis- 
posed of at the Michigan experiment station. At the said 
station, beans and corn fed in equal proportions by weight, 
gave an increase of 50 per cent higher than beans alone. 

To horses, beans have been but little fed. For such a 
use, along with oats, corn or barley, and especially along 
with the latter, they should furnish an excellent food for 
horses. What is said with reference to the value of horse 
beans as a food for horses, should apply about equally to 
common beans (see p. 24). Beans that have heated to the 
extent of inducing mould, are very hurtful not only to 
horses but to all kinds of stock. 

Soy beans. — The soy bean is now grown as a source of 
protein in several of the central and southern states, es])e- 
cially the former. The states highest in adaptation include 
Nebraska, Kansas, -Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and 
Kentucky. This warm weather plant is not much grown in 
the North, but even in New England it has been grown 
with considerable success as a source of protein for the silo, 
in the unthreshed form. In the northern states, the Canada 
field pea will usually furnish protein more cheaply auvl 
surely, and the same is true of clover and alfalfa in many 
sections, but the amount of the bulk in these in relation to 



FOOD FROM CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS 245 

the protein may render them insufficient of itself as a source 
of protein. Soy beans yield from, say 12 to 20 bushels an 
acre under average conditions in states suited to their 
growth, hence it is quite feasible in these to grow them as a 
source of protein. The mature grain is only fed to cattle 
in the ground form, except when fed as ensilage. It is also 
ground when fed to swine except when harvested by the 
swine in the field, which is sometimes done, but it is not 
usual to grind them for sheep or horses. 

For fattening cattle, soy bean meal though not much 
used, may be so used as a part of the grain ration, but only 
as a moderate portion, owing to the high percentage of the 
oil which it contains. For this reason it should be fed with 
a prudent caution to milch cows. But it has been found 
quite satisfactory as a source of protein in feeding both beef 
cattle and dairy cows. When from 20 to 2)2) P^^ cent of the 
silage is composed of soy beans reasonably well matured, 
the balance being corn also well grown, the protein in the 
ration will probably be found ample for cows in milk, pro- 
viding the fodder is alfalfa or clover. It would furnish an 
excellent meal adjunct, at least as good as linseed meal for 
calves during the milk period, whether fed in the milk or 
along with other meal. Much of what is said about 
the feeding of ground flax will also apply to the feeding of 
soy bean meal (see p. 249). 

For sheep that are being fattened, the grain should 
only form a small part of the ration, but how much would 
depend, first, on the relative value of the beans and, second, 
on the protein in the fodder. In the absence of experi- 
ment, it would seem safe to say that soy bean meal should 
not be fed to sheep in larger quantity than oil meal (see 

P- ^77)- 

For swine the meal is expensive, too expensive in the 
meantime to be fed in competition with some of the other 
sources of protein. But the beans may, under some condi- 
tions, be profitably harvested by swine. Before turning in 
the swine, the beans should be practically mature. When 



246 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

thus gleaned, corn or some other carbonaceous food should 
be fed along with the beans. 

To horses, soy beans have only been fed in a limited 
way. But when corn is the principal grain fed, a consider- 
able proportion of soy bean seed may be added. Some lo- 
calities favor the growing of soy beans so much more than 
others, that the wisdom of growing these as a source of 
protein for any kind of feeding will be largely dependent 
upon the cost of the same. 

The horse bean. — The horse bean ( / 'icia faba ) , though 
much grown in Great Britain and also in the more moist and 
temperate areas of continental Europe, has not succeeded 
well when tried in the United States and Canada, except in 
comparatively limited areas. These include certain areas in 
proximity to the Great lakes, especially in the more north- 
erly sections where the summers are reasonably moist and 
cool, and also on the Pacific coast- from Oregon to Alaska. 
This plant is a great yielder of protein, hence it is to be re- 
gretted that it does not succeed better where the summer 
temperatures are warm. It furnishes food that is highly 
prized for stock when fed in proper combinations. It is al- 
ways fed in the form of meal to cattle except Vv^hen fed as 
ensilage, usually in the unground form to sheep, as meal or 
cooked to swine, and unground, ground or boiled or 
steamed to horses. 

For cattle this crop when ground furnishes excel- 
lent food for young cattle when fed along with such ground 
food as barley, rye or corn, the beans preponderating in the 
ration. For beef cattle, 2)Z P^^ cent or even less will usually 
prove ample in the grain ration, but for dairy cows with or- 
dinary fodders fully 50 per cent of the meal ration may con- 
sist of bean meal. The best method by far. however, of 
feeding it to dairy cows is in the form of silage which con- 
sists of say one part by weight of the entire bean crop to 
two parts of the entire corn crop. For sheep, what was said 
of the common bean will also apply to the horse bean (see 
p. 244). When fed to swine that are being fattened, 50 



FOOD FROM CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS 247 

per cent or more of the ration should be corn, barley or rye 
meal. As the name would indicate, it stands high in favor 
as a food for horses. It has been claimed that as a part of 
the ration it puts spirit into horses subjected to violent ex- 
ertion, as for instance, horses used in the chase. It has also 
been used as a grain adjunct and even as the principal grain 
fed in fattening horses. It has peculiar adaptation for be- 
ing fed along with corn to horses when the latter is freely 
fed. For fattening horses, the combination is probably un- 
rivaled. Wolfe places the comparative feeding value of 
corn, horse beans, also oats as 4, 4.5 and 5. 

Cowpeas. — The cowpea is the great soil restorer of 
the southern states. It may be grown with entire success 
south of parallel 40 degrees and in many localities with 
measurable success much further north. While it is likely 
tliat it will be much grown to furnish pasture for live stock, 
and also hay for the same, it would seem probable that the 
amount of grain fed will continue to be more or less lim- 
ited, owing first, to the tendency in the crop to ripen un- 
evenly, and second, to the considerable labor in handling it 
because of peculiarities of growth after it has matured. 
Nevertheless, it will furnish excellent food for live stock 
where it can be devoted to such a use. Generally the grain 
in the threshed form is too dear to admit of its being fed 
thus with profit. It is usually ground when fed to cattle, 
but is fed in the unground form to sheep. To swine and 
horses it is fed ground or unground. Owing to the high 
protein content possessed by cowpeas, they furnish a suit- 
able concentrate for young stock. 

For cattle, when ground and fed along with suitable 
adjuncts, they furnish excellent food. The meal, like 
that of Canada field pea, is usually somewhat heavy for 
being fed alone, hence, for nearly all kinds of feeding and 
especially for cattle, it is improved by mixing with it 
ground oats or wheat bran. Such a mixture, containing say 
50 per cent of cowpea meal is excellent for calves and dairy 
cows, but a percentage much less than that named will 



248 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

prove very helpful. P^or cattle that are being fattened, cow- 
peas and corn in almost any proportions will answer as the 
concentrate fed, but when corn forms 50 per cent of the 
grain ration, more rapid increase may usually be looked for 
than if it should form a less proportion of the same. 

Sheep, doubtless, may be fattened on this grain alone, 
just as they may be fattened on the Canada field pea alone. 
The peas may also be fed thus to breeding ewes. Never- 
theless, for the latter use, the addition of oats will improve 
the ration materially. But for fattening sheep, corn and 
cowpeas, during the later stages of fattening, are superior 
to cowpeas and oats. These three fed together in equal 
proportions by weight, should furnish an excellent food for 
fattening sheep. 

To sivine, cowpeas are more commonly fed than to 
other kinds of live stock. At the Alabama experiment sta- 
tion, located at Auburn, it was found that cowpeas alone 
called for 481 pounds to make 100 pounds of increase, corn 
alone, 487 pounds, and equal parts of each, 433 pounds. 
The peas and corn may be fed unground. Rye or barley 
could be substituted for corn, but not quite so satisfactorily. 
The peas ground and soaked and fed with skim milk, a lim- 
ited proportion of corn meal being in the ration, make 
quick growth. Cowpeas and sweet potatoes also feed well 
together, especially when fattening swine. 

To horses, although cowpeas are not usually fed 
because of relative cost, they may be so fed. As in 
the case of soy beans, they go well with corn. When fed as 
meal, pea meal and ground oats in equal proportions go well 
together. The oats lighten up the meal in the sense that 
they render it more porous. 

Vetches. — The leading varieties of vetches grown in 
the United States are known as common winter or spring 
vetches, also the sand vetch, which, properly speaking, is a 
winter vetch. The distinction between winter and spring 
vetches is not very sharply defined. The highest adaptation 



FOOD FROM CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS 249 

for the common vetch is found west of the Cascade meun- 
tains and northward from Cahfornia to Alaska, in areas 
with cool summer temperatures, especially northward from 
the Great lakes, and in the maritime provinces of Canada 
and some portions of the New England states. The sand 
vetch is more commonly grown on light soils south of say 
40 degrees. 

Vetches are chiefly grown to produce pasture, soiling 
food or hay, but in some instances the grain is the chief con- 
sideration. In such instances they are chiefly harvested by 
sheep or swine where they grew, but more especially by the 
former, as then much of the vine is consumed as well as the 
grain. When sown for such harvesting by sheep, enough 
oats should be sown with them to sustain the crop. Such 
grazing is only adapted to conditions where dry weather 
prevails during the harvest season, as for instance, where 
irrigation is practised. The seed separate front the grain 
has usually too high a market value for being fed in that 
form. The grain has much the same feeding value as peas 
(see p. 236), and may be fed in much the same way. It is 
particularly valuable as a concentrate for young stock, ow- 
ing to its high protein content. 

Flax. — In limited quantities, flax may be grown with a 
reasonable measure of success in almost every state in the 
Union, but in the northwestern states and provinces of Can- 
ada the relative adaptation is higher for it than elsewhere. 
and in these areas the greater portion of the American crop 
is grown. Because of the abundance of the oil which it pro- 
duces, and the high commercial value of the same, flax is 
more commonly fed as cake or meal after the oil has been 
extracted, and for the further reason that the high content 
of the oil makes it too rich a food for prolonged feeding in 
large quantities. Nevertheless, there are conditions in 
which the grain may be fed with advantage and profit, in 
limited quantities, whether fed directly or indirectly, as by 
grinding it with other foods. 



250 FEEDING FARM ANIxMALS 

By sowing the flax with the grain or grains with which 
it is to be fed, it may be obtained virtually without cost 
other than the seed sown. More than 5 to lo per cen.t 
of tlax in the grain fed would usually be unnecessary, and 
to ascertain how much seed to sow to furnish this amount, 
can only be found through actual experience in any given 
locality. When flax seed is thus grown, it precludes the 
necessity for purchasing oil cake. The favorable influence 
on digestion of a small quantity of flax seed in the ration, 
is the strong argument in favor of feeding it thus. But it 
can only be fed in limited quantities, otherwise the appetite 
will be gradually lessened 

To cattle, when thus grown, the grain, with the flax in 
it, is ground and fed for fattening. When present only in 
limited quantities, the presence of the flax in the grain does 
not seriously interfere with successful grinding in home 
farm mills as would be the case with flax alone because of 
its oily character. 

Meal similarly prepared may also be fed to milch cows. 
When thus fed, the flax adds protein to the ration and aids 
digestion, and is not present in sufficient quantities to af- 
fect adversely the qualit)/ of the butter. 

Flax seed in the unground form has been used more 
for feeding young calves during the milk period when fed 
skim milk than for any other class of cattle. It is pre- 
pared by making it into a gruel by soaking and boiling and 
adding to the skim milk while hot. The object of heatini' 
is to raise the temperature of the milk. Though excellent 
for .such a use, it is not so necessary to add heat to the milk., 
now that newly separated milk is coming to be much used 
for feeding calves. The seed in the ground form, usually 
spoken of as linseed and fed with the milk or otherwise, 
serves the purpose equally well except in instances in which 
the temperature of the milk will be improved by raising it. 
The quantity fed, a very small amount at first, may be 
gauged by the condition of the voidings. Fed in excess, 
the bowels become too lax. 



FOOD FROM CFKEALS AND OTHER SEEDS 25 I 

For sheep, flax when grown with oats in suitable quan- 
tity, makes an excellent food for breeding ewes, in the un- 
ground form, the amount of grain fed being not more than 
one pound daily until after lambing. Grown with oats and 
barley, or oats, barley and wiieat, an excellent mixture is 
furnished for fattening sheep, without adding any other 
grain. The gruel mixture and the linseed also are particu- 
larly excellent for lambs that are hand-fed as they can prob- 
ably utilize much fat in tlie ration. 

For szK.'iiie, a small amount ground with a suitable grain 
mixture, will improve the ration but the amount should be 
very small or the appetite will be lessened. 

For horses, a small quantity of the ground flax may be 
added to the food to prevent constipation but wheat bran is 
usually preferred for such a purpose. In limited quantity, 
it may also be thus used in feeding young horses and brood 
mares but oil cake is more suitable. 

Cotton seed. — Nearly all the cotton grown in the 
United States is produced in the Gulf states and in the 
states adjacent to them. It is by far the most valuable crop 
grown in the South. Subsequently to its introduction into 
the United States, cotton was grovvn for several decades 
for the sole purpose of producing fibre to be used in making 
cloth. Previously to i860, it is said that nearly all the seed 
was wasted. It was an enormous waste, as the cotton plant 
produces about two pounds of seed for each pound of fibre. 
Since the great value of the seed in furnishing food for live 
stock and for fertilization have come to be known and ap- 
preciated, virtually all the seed grown is fed to live stock, 
chiefly in the form of meal or cake after the oil has been 
extracted, but it is also fed to some extent while yet un- 
ground. in the natural condition or steamed, boiled 
roasted. 

For cattle, cotton seed furnishes an excellent concen- 
trate. In the production of beef, no grain grown in the 
United States is equal to cotton seed, pound for pound, in 
producing value. When fed in the raw or natural form to 



252 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

cattle that are being fattened along with Bermuda hay, it 
has produced meat even more cheaply than when fed as 
meal, but larger gains have been obtained from feeding it 
steamed, and also from feeding in some combinations along 
with other concentrates. The comparative profit, however, 
from feeding cotton seed as compared with cottonseed 
meal, w^ill depend on the relative prices of the two. Being 
an exceedingly concentrated food, ordinarily not more than 
four to five pounds of the daily ration are composed of cot- 
ton seed, the other portion of the grain or meal being made 
up from some other concentrate, but in some instances, in 
the cotton states, more than 10 pounds of the seed are fed 
daily. Cattle have been successfully fattened on cotton seed 
and cotton seed hulls without hay. Excellent results follow 
the feeding of raw cotton seed, a moderate amount of corn, 
corn silage and Bermuda hay. 

For coivs in milk, cotton seed has been found even 
more profitable than when fed for meat, owing, doubtless to, 
its high protein content. It is more commonly fed to dairy 
cows in the form of meal, but in instances not a few, is fed 
raw or steamed. At the Mississippi experiment station, 
butter made by feeding boiled cotton seed, Bermuda hay 
and silage stood first in cheapness of production, that from 
raw cotton seed and the same adjuncts came second and 
that made from cottonseed meal and these adjuncts was 
third. Here also, relative profit from feeding the seed and 
meal will depend upon relative values. The claim has been 
made, and it is probably correct, that no cheaper feed for 
producing milk can be fed in the southern states. For milk 
production as much as 10 pounds per day per cow have in 
some instances been fed, but the aim should be rather to 
feed not more than half the quantity named in prolonged 
feeding and to add some other concentrate, preferably one 
grown in the South. It would seem probable that in the fu- 
ture, cotton seed will be more and more fed as meal rather 
than as seed, as the value of the oil pressed from seed is 
greater for some other uses than as food for stock. _ 



FOOD FROM CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS 253 

For calves, cotton seed is usually fed in the form of 
meal. As they become more advanced in age, however, it 
may be fed to them raw or steamed, and thus also it may be 
used with advantage as a source of protein in growing 
young cattle, more especially when the fodder is made up 
largely of corn stalks and the non-saccharine sorghums. 

To sheep, cotton seed in the raw form is fed freely 
when fattening them in proximity to the mills, and is a 
good fattening food fed along with Bermuda or other hay, 
or even along with the hulls in lieu of roughage feeding 
three to four pounds of hulls to one pound of the seed. It 
has not been much fed to breeding ewes, but doubtless it 
would be perfectly legitimate to feed it to them in moderate 
quantities. 

To swine, it is not common to feed cotton seed in any 
form, but when so fed it is usually in the form of meal. In 
the unground form it is not well suited to the digestion of 
svvane, even though it should not injure them, as the meal 
does in prolonged feeding (see p. 278). At the Texas ex- 
periment station, even when fed boiled, the mortality of the 
animals eating it was 25 per cent. 

To horses, neither cotton seed nor cottonseed meal 
have been much fed. The meal has been fed with safety 
to working horses to the extent of one to two pounds a day, 
and it would seem reasonable to suppose that at least as 
large amounts of the raw seed could be fed without hazard. 

Sunflower seed. — The sunflower calls for a climate 
somewhat similar to that required by corn. This means 
that it can be grown successfully in nearly all parts of the 
United States that are tillable, and also in several of the 
provinces of Canada. The yields from reasonably good 
crops are about 2,000 pounds per acre. The growing of the 
plant calls for about the same amount of labor as the grow- 
ing of a crop of corn, and the yield of the gr^in is not far 
different. The seed is also possessed of high feeding value. 
Notwithstanding, the growing of sunflowers as food for 



254 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

farm animals, unless it be for poultry, is not likely to be- 
come popular in the near future, owing, first, to the hand la- 
bor required in harvesting the crop, and second, to the little 
food value possessed by the stalks. 

Sunflower seed may be fed in the unground form to 
sheep, swine, horses and poultry. When fed to cattle 
they are commonly ground, except when fed as ensilage. 
This is probably the most popular way of feeding them to 
cattle. When so fed, it is common to ensile only the heads 
and a small portion of the stalk which supports them. 
When thus ensiled with corn and horse beans, an excellent 
ration is obtained for feeding milch cows. When fed to 
cattle, sheep, swine and horses, only a limited percentage of 
the grain ration should be sunflower seed, because of the 
high content of oil which they contain. Even when fed to 
fowls, it should be along with other grain. Cake made from 
sunflowers is about as valuable as oil cake. 

Svv^eet sorghum seed. — Sorghum may be grown for 
pasture, soiling food, fodder, or for making syrup, in nearly 
all localities where corn will mature paying crops of the 
grain. Sorghum syrup has been made in considerable quan- 
tities as far north as southern Minnesota. This crop is sel- 
dom grown primarily for the seed obtained from it, but 
when grown to furnish syrup, the seed also is an important 
consideration. Yields approximating 30 bushels per acre 
are frequently obtained and in some instances considerably 
more than the quantity named. As with Kafir corn and in- 
deed with all the seeds of the sorghum family, much care is 
necessary to prevent them from heating to their injury as 
food when stored. • 

Nearly all of what is said with reference to the feeding 
of Kafir corn seed will also apply to the feeding of sor- 
ghum seed (see p. 255). The composition of the two is very 
similar. This means that sorghum seed may, under certain 
conditions, be fed with advantage to beef and dairy cattle, 
to sheep, swine, horses and poultry. For cattle and swine 
it is decidedly preferable to feed the seed as meal, but to 



FOOD FROM CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS 255 

sheep and horses there is probably no better way of feeding 
it than by simply chopping off the heads from the sheaves 
and feeding them unthreshed. In this form, under proper 
conditions of storage, this seed is but little liable to ferment. 
Well preserved seed when threshed, will usually command 
so high a price for planting that it cannot be profitably used 
for feeding in a large way to live stock. 

Kafir corn seed. — Kafir corn will successfully with- 
stand much more drought than corn and considerably more 
than sorghum, but it cannot withstand temperatures so low 
as some varieties of these plants. It has special adaptation, 
therefore, for certain areas of the semi-arid belt from say 
parallel 40 degrees southward. In these it produces more 
grain and fodder per acre than either corn or sorghum. At 
the Kansas experiment station located at Manhattan, it has 
produced about 25 per cent more grain than corn. Where, 
however, the yields of corn are equal to or greater than 
those of Kafir corn seed, the former should be grown in 
preference, as it is not only somewhat better relished but 
has a higher feeding value. Except when fed to sheep and 
fowls, Kafir corn is usually ground before feeding it. 

For cattle, Kafir corn has not been found quite equal to 
corn. For fattening cattle, the feeding of corn is about 6 
per cent greater. The difference in favor of corn for milk 
production is probably even more. Cattle tire more quickly 
of Kafir corn than of corn. 

Twenty to 30 per cent of soy bean meal greatly im- 
proves the Kafir corn for making beef and a still larger per- 
centage further improves it for milk production when the 
fodder is carbonaceous in character. Wheat bran also is 
well suited for being fed to cattle with this meal, as it not 
only increases the protein content, but adds to the bulk. It 
should be fed somewhat sparingly to calves except when 
they are being fattened, and to young cattle in process of 
development. 

For fattening sheep, Kafir corn has proved at least 
fairly satisfactory It is fed to them in the unground form 



256 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

and very frequently without separating the seed from the 
heads. These are removed from the stems and run through 
a cutting box which prepares them for being fed in a very 
suitable form. In other instances the seed is fed directly 
and unmixed, but a small percentage of oats a Jed im- 
proves the grain ration. When fed to breeding ewes, the 
percentage of oats should be large, even when the fodder 
consists of alfalfa. 

For swine, Kafir corn, finely ground and soaked, has 
proved fairly satisfactory when fed to swine that were being 
fattened. It was not equal to corn, however. Swine tire 
of it more quickly and it has more of a tendency to produce 
constipation. When from 20 to 33 per cent of the grain 
mixture is soy bean meal, Kafir corn is not much behind 
corn similarly fed in fattening swine. When fed to sows 
suckling their young, from 30 to 50 per cent of soy bean 
meal will furnish a suitable ration. The same is true when 
not less than 50 per cent of the meal is composed of shorts. 
When fed along with skim milk to young swine before or 
after the weaning period, the development should be satis- 
factory, but it will be even more so if wheat middlings are 
added. 

To horses, the few trials made in feeding Kafir corn 
have shown that it may be so fed with safety and profit 
under certain conditions, especially to horses at work. 
It is frequently fed while yet unthreshed, by simply cutting 
ofif the heads of the sheaves and feeding the heads. It is 
believed, however, that better results will be obtained from 
first grinding the seed. Wliat has been said about feeding 
corn in conjunction, -with other grains, will also apply in the 
main to Kafir corn seed. It is relished at least fairly well 
by horses. 

Other non-saccharine sorghum seeds. — Besides Kafir 
corn (see p. 255), the non-saccharine sorghums known as 
Jerusalem corn, Milo maize and Durra, are grown to some 
extent and in some instances largely if not chiefly for the 
grain obtained from them. They are grown sectionally as 



FOOD FROM CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS 257 

it were, and mainly in limited areas and in states more or 
less centrally located west of the Mississippi river. As a 
rule these have not proved equal to Kafir corn in yields of 
seed, but to this there are some exceptions. Nor has the 
fodder as a rule proved equal to that obtained from 
Kafir corn or sorghum. Where corn grows in fine form, 
it would seem safe to say that it can be more profitably 
grown to furnish food for live stock than any of these. 

The seed of each of the non-saccharine sorghums has 
about the same feeding value as that of Kafir corn. This 
means that none of them are quite equal to corn for general 
feeding, although they may exceed it in some special line or 
lines of the same. It means also that they are better 
adapted relatively for fattening than for promoting growth 
in young animals. As in the case of Kafir corn, these 
should ordinarily be ground when fed to cattle and swine, 
but may usually be fed with more advantage to sheep, 
horses and fowls by feeding them while yet on the un- 
threshed heads, or at least in the unground form. 

Corn or maize. — Indian corn or maize is unquestion- 
ably the most imi)ortant single food plant grown in the 
United States to provide sustenance for domestic animals. 
In localities where it can be successfully grown, it usually 
furnishes more nutrients per acre than can be obtained from 
any other plant for the labor involved, and this holds true 
of it even in many instances where it is not considered prof- 
itable to grow it primarily to produce grain. It is not so 
exhaustive to the soil as many other plants and no other 
crop can be used to better purpose as an aid in cleaning the 
land, when the labor involved is considered. 

\\'hile corn can be grown with more or less profit in 
every state in the Union, the greatest corn growing states 
are those embraced in the Mississippi basin. Although in 
some of its varieties it may be matured in 90 days from the 
date of planting, it is not usually grown to a very large ex- 
tent primarily for the grain, unless in areas that are free 



258 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

from frost for 120 days. As a fodder crop, its growth has 
been pushed far northward during recent years. 

Corn fed as grain is preeminently a fattening food for 
all kinds of domestic animals. In this respect, it is without 
a rival. As shown in the table, it is essentially a carbo- 
naceous food, its leading characteristic being the large 
amount of starchy matter which it contains. It is low in 
protein and quite low in ash. It is a heat-producing food 
and quite low in those materials that furnish muscle and 
bone. It should always be fed, therefore, with a prudent 
moderation to young animals, to animals at work and to 
those producing milk, and in conjunction with foods rich in 
protein. It is nearly all digestible, is much relished by an- 
imals, and is one of the most healthful of cereals, even for 
prolonged feeding, providing it is fed with judgment. 

The number of varieties of corn is in a sense without 
limit. These are divided into the two classes known as 
common and sweet. The sweet varieties are richer in al- 
buminoids and fat, but they do not usually yield as much, 
as a rule, as the common varieties. The latter are sub- 
divided into what are termed flint and dent varieties. The 
flint varieties are characterized by the flinty hardness of the 
grain and the dent varieties by an indentation on the outer 
end of the kernels. The flint varieties are smaller and hard- 
ier, and are, therefore, better adapted relatively to condi- 
tions with seasons too short for producing the dent vari- 
eties with equal profit. There is no marked diflference in 
the chemical analysis of the common sorts of corn based on 
the terms flint and dent. The nutrients do not seem to be 
materially influenced- by color nor by latitude and longitude. 

Corn is fed as grain in various ways. More commonly 
it is fed after removal from the cob when it is spoken of as 
"shelled" corn or simply corn, but frequently it is fed on the 
cob after the husk has been removed when it is known as 
"ear" corn. Sometimes the whole crop is put into the silo 
and fed as "silage," at other times it is fed unhusked from 
the shock when it is known as "shock" or "fodder" corn. 



FOOD FKUM CliKEAL8 AND t)TlIER SFKDS 259 

In sonic instances the ears arc broken otf and fed without 
husking when it is designated "snapped" corn. The stalks, 
with the ears removed, are known as "stover." When these 
are torn into strips by a suitable machine, the product is 
called "shredded" corn. The discussion at this time relates 
primarily to the grain. 

To young animals, corn is usually fed cracked or 
ground. By "cracked" is meant broken up into coarse 
particles that they may masticate it more easily. In some 
instances, the corn and cob are ground together before be- 
ing fed, the product being spoken of as corn and cob meal. 
When prepared thus, it should be finely ground, as when the 
particles are coarse, they are not easily digested. When 
properly prepared, corn and cob meal has about the same 
feeding value as corn meal, notwithstanding the small 
amount of nutrients in the cob. The result is owing prob- 
ably to the more easily penetrable character of the mass in 
the stomach when fed directly. When fed to cattle that are 
being fattened, corn is given ground or unground, soaked 
or unsoaked, as snapped corn and also as shock corn. It is 
usually given to cows in the form of meal. It is more com- 
monly fed to sheep shelled and unground, but may be fed, 
in part at least, as ear corn or as shock corn. It is usually 
fed to swine in the shelled or ear form and imground. In 
some instances it is first soaked. For young swine and 
sows that are nursing their young, it is made into meal and 
the meal is soaked. To horses it is more commonly fed in 
the shelled form. 

The degree of the moisture in corn has a material in- 
fluence on its feeding value. In new corn the moisture con- 
tent varies from 20 to 25 per cent. In old corn, thoroughly 
air dried, it is about 12 per cent. It loses moisture slowly, 
hence the necessity for great care in storing, or it will 
mould. In such a condition its value as food is greatly im- 
paired. If fed in large or even in moderate quantities it is 
positively dangerous. 



26o FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

To calves and young cattle, corn must be fed with some 
reserve, owing- to its carbonaceous character, unless when 
they are to be fattened. It may then be made the principal, 
ahnost the sole grain food fed, otherwise it should not as a 
rule form more than one-third to one-half the grain fed, the 
balance being preferably oats and bran. The latter quan- 
tity is only admissible when fed along with legumes or 
what is better, with these and field roots. 

For cattle that are being fattened, corn is par excel- 
lence the food. It is not only much relished but it is much 
laden with starch, well calculated to fill the tissues of the 
body with fat. It may be used as the sole grain food or as 
any part of it, according to the nature of the other food fac- 
tors. In the corn belt, it has been much used as the sole ra- 
tion, the stalks supplying the roughage, but this method is 
only admissible when the prices of grain rule low, as it is 
not a balanced food. It is fed to such cattle as corn meal, 
corn and cob meal, the ears snapped, as shock corn and 
sometimes soaked. When fed with clover or alfalfa, corn 
may legitimately form 75 to go per cent of the concentrated 
food, the balance being some food rich in protein, as cotton- 
seed meal, oil cake, bran or gluten meal. When the grain is 
fed whole, swine are made to glean amid the droppings to 
consume the corn that has escaped being digested. 

For coxvs in milk, corn will easily maintain its position 
as the basic ration, in localities where it grows readily. It 
can be produced cheaply, and in the form of silage furnishes 
the necessary succulence. More commonly the grain is fed 
to cows in the form of corn meal or corn and cob meal, but 
sometimes it is fed as shock corn, more especially when the 
fodder is not coarse. When thus fed, it is usually necessary 
to add more grain, as in the case of feeding silage. It is sel- 
dom wise to make corn comprise more than 50 per cent of 
the grain fed, even when a legume is used as fodder. 

For sheep that are being fattened, corn is equally as 
good as for fattening cattle. For winter lambs, fed as meal 
or cracked, along with 20 per cent of oil meal, the gains 



FOOD FROM CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS 261 

should be satisfactory when the milk supply from the dams 
is also liberal. For weaned lambs and mature sheep that 
are being fattened, it may be fed unground as the sole grain 
ration for short periods of feeding, the fodder being legu- 
minous, but when from 10 to 25 per cent of the grain is a 
protein food, the results are usually more satisfactory. For 
breeding ewes, the corn should not be more than 50 per cent 
of the concentrate fed, and usually not more than 25 per 
cent. 

For szi.'iiic that are being fattened, corn alone answers 
well. It is about as profitable fed as shelled or in the cob, 
as in the form of meal. If so hard as to injure the mouths 
of the animals, it should be soaked for 18 to 24 hours. For 
brood sows, it may profitably form t,t, to 50 per cent of the 
grain fed, the other meal having more of protein in it. In 
such instances, it is fed as meal, after having been soaked, 
and is thus prepared also for unweaned pigs. To these it 
should seldom form more than 33 per cent of the meal, the 
other portion being preferably wheat middlings. To grow- 
ing pigs on clover or alfalfa pasture, it may furnish 50 to 
100 per cent of the grain fed. 

For horses, corn is not so good a food as oats, when 
fed as the sole food. It is not so good for building muscu- 
lar tissue or in making bone in young horses, or in sustain- 
ing muscular energy in horses at work. It fattens the ani- 
mals more than oats, as one result of which they sweat more 
readily, and yet corn may be fed as a considerable propor- 
tion of the grain ration, especially to horses at work, with 
both economy and profit. To these it may be fed so as to 
form from 25 to 50 per cent of the grain, according to the 
season and to the protein in the other food. Oats go well 
with corn. A little wheat bran added to corn meal is a ma- 
terial aid to the digesting of corn. Corn and cob meal is 
better than corn meal fed without admixture. Corn should 
seldom form more than 33 per cent of the grain food fed to 



262 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

foals, young horses or brood mares that are pregnant or 
while nursing their foals, because of its low protein and ash 
content. 

Broom corn seed. — The seed of broom corn has fre- 
quently been wasted under the impression that it was not 
possessed of any considerable feeding value. This view 
may rest upon the fact that broom corn may be most prof- 
itably harvested when a little short of maturity. Neverthe- 
less, under such conditions, the value of the seed is consid- 
erable, since it is usually allowed to reach the dough stage 
before it is harvested, and in some instances to go beyond it. 
Its feeding value is, of course, much affected by the degree 
of the maturity when harvested, but under almost any con- 
ditions, the value of the seed for feeding is much more than 
the cost involved in it. Where the seed is allowed to mature 
before the brush is cut, as much as a ton is frequently ob- 
tained per acre. As the feeding value is much the same as 
that of Kafir corn, food from such a source should not be 
underrated. 

In some instances it has been reported that the seed not 
fully matured has been drawn into a pasture as soon as ob- 
tained, where horses, cattle, sheep and swine were allowed 
to eat of it at will, except that for a few days at the first, 
they were accustomed to it gradually by allowing them to 
take increasing quantities from day to day. The wisdom of 
feeding it thus is to be questioned, as under such condi- 
tions, unnecessarily large quantities will be consumed. It 
may be fed much the same as Kafir corn (see p. 255), re- 
luembering that, as the immaturity in the seed is increased, 
the relative quantity fed should also be increased. There is 
probably no way in which immature seed may be fed more 
profitably than by feeding it to sheep or fowls in the un- 
ground form. Much broom corn seed is lost by throwing it 
in heaps and allowing it to ferment, a result that will 
quickly follow when it is treated thus. 

Millet seed. — Millet may be grown in many states and 
provinces of Canada, but the prairie states of the northwest 



FOOD FROM CEREALS AND OTHER SEEDS ' 263 

in this country, and of the west in Canada, have highest 
adaptation for it. In these areas, it may frequently be 
grown with much appropriateness to furnish not only hay 
but also grain for live stock in the seed which it matures. 
Since it grows best in warm weather and will mature in 
about 75 days, according to the variety, it may furnish a 
crop of seed on land where crops sown earlier may have 
failed, or where early spring sowing was not practicable be- 
cause of excessive moisture. Yields of not less than 30 
bushels of seed per acre and weighing 48 to 56 pounds per 
bushel are easily obtainable from such lands. As the com- 
position of millet is much like that of oats, and as it has but 
little hull, its feeding value for live stock, especially where 
corn is not successfully grown for the grain, will be at once 
apparent. Owing to the hardness of the grain, it is fed only 
in the ground form, except when fed to sheep and fowls. 

For calves and young cattle, ground millet furnishes a 
suitable concentrate. More especially when fed in conjunc- 
tion with oats, millet meal should be quite suitable for 
young calves, since the proportion of hull is small. Along 
with oats, say in equal parts by weight, calves may be given 
about all of the mixture that they will take during the milk 

For cattle being fattened, ground millet is a useful 
food when it forms from 33 to 50 per cent, according to the 
stage of the fattening, less being fed as the season advances. 
The other factor is preferably corn, but may be barley. Mil- 
let and wheat may also be similarly fed. 

For cozvs in milk, ground millet may profitably form 
any portion of the grain ration up to 50 per cent of the 
grain fed, should occasion require it. Ground oats and 
wheat, barley, rye or corn, in equal parts by weight, may ap- 
propriately furnish the other portion. 

To sheep, millet seed furnishes suitable food. More 
commonly it is fed to them unground. It may be fed alone, 
but oats mixed with it, add to the bulk and porosity of the 



264 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

mass, and so far as they do, improve it for ordinary fatten- 
ing. For fattening sheep, it blends well with corn, about 
equal parts being used, but may also be fed with other ce- 
reals, as wheat, barley or rye. 

For szviiic, ground millet is a better food than ground 
oats, especially for young swine, a large proportion being 
digestible. Alone it furnishes good food for sows nursing 
their young, but is, of course, improved by feeding with 
various other grains. In tests made at the South Dakota 
station, millet alone did not prove equal to wheat or barley, 
pound for pound. In fattening swine, ground millet may be 
fed with corn, in any proportions desired, but the aim 
should be to have more than 50 per cent of corn in the ra- 
tion. 

To horses, ground millet may be fed with appropriate- 
ness. Fed to foals and young horses, as when oats are fed, 
it produces muscular development, and fed to horses at 
work, it promotes muscular strength. The ration is im- 
proved by adding oats, but in the absence of oats, it may be 
made to take their place in a mixed ration. For exclusive 
feeding, it is not equal to oats, being a somewhat heavier 
feed. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
FOOD FROM BY-PRODUCTS. 

By-products are residues from the manufacture of 
products primarily grown for some more important use. 
The by-products of food stuffs are the residues left from 
the manufacture of these various products for which thev 
are more commonly grown. Thus bran is a by-product of 
wheat manufactured into flour. Cottonseed meal is a by- 
product of cotton seed from which the oil has been ex- 
tracted. Skim milk is a by-product of whole milk from 
which the cream has been removed for b^ing made into but- 
ter. These by-products are usually fed to live stock, and in 
the aggregate they are of immense value. The three most 
valuable by-products in furnishing food for animals are, 
wheat bran, oil meal, and cottonseed meal, but many others 
are also highly valuable. 

The more important of the by-products discuss.ed in 
Chapter XIII, obtained from the cereals, are the by-products 
from: (i) Wheat, (2) barley, (3) flax and (4) corn. The 
discussion of the by-products of other cereals follows. 
These are of minor importance and include the by-products : 
(i) Of rye, (2) of oats, (3) of peas, (4) of buckwheat and 
(5) of rice. The by-products obtained from certain food 
products other than cereals are then discussed, and they in- 
clude residues from: (i) Cotton seed, (2) sugar beets, (3) 
milk and ( 4 ) the by-product molasses obtained in the man- 
ufacture of sugar. Lastly, miscellaneous by-products are 
discussed. They include the following: (i) Tankage, (2) 
dried blood, (3) dried flesh meal and meat scrap and (4) 
fish scrap, also various kinds of cake other than oil cake and 
cottonseed cake. 

Several of these by-products are exceedingly rich in 
the elements of plant growth, as well as in food nutrients. 



266 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Prominent among these are cottonseed meal, oil meal and 
wheat bran^ rich in the order named. As but a small por- 
tion of these elements are appropriated by the animals to 
which they are fed, when the voidings are carefully saved 
and promptly applied, they furnish fertilizer of much value. 
So important is the value of this residue, that it should 
never be lost sight of in determining the foods that shall be 
fed. The wholesale exportation of these food products, 
therefore, from this country, is to be deplored. It means 
that these resources of production are fast being sent away 
to other lands. 

Wheat by-products. — Wheat furnishes by-products of 
great value in feeding live stock. The chief of these are 
bran, shorts and middlings, but in some instances a low 
grade of flour is also fed. It would also seem correct to 
speak of frosted wheat, much shrunken wheat and screen- 
ings^ as by-products. Bran consists of the three outer mem- 
branous coats of the kernel and also the rich protein layer 
•just underneath them. Shorts is simply reground bran. 
Middlings contain the finer bran particles and more flour 
than shorts. The distinction between these is not clearly 
drawn in all instances either in the composition of the two 
products or in the more or less interchangeable way of re- 
ferring to them. The low grade of flour fed is commonly 
referred to as "red dog" and in some instances as "dark 
feeding flour." Frozen or frosted wheat is wheat that has 
been injured by frost before maturity. It may be perfectly 
pure but lacks in plumpness and hardness, according to the 
stage of the growth at which it was frozen. Shrunken 
wheat is that which is small and shrivelled, though hard in 
the berry, owing to some injury sustained by the stalk and 
leaves, before the completion of the ripening of the grain, 
as when stricken by the black rust. Such grain may make 
good flour though low in quantity, hence it is heavily dis- 
counted by buyers. Screenings consist of small and light or 
broken kernels and the seeds of weeds that may have 
ripened in the grain, also in some instances minute pieces 



FOODS FROM BV-PKODUCTS 26/ 

of broken straw. From 25 to 33 per cent of wheat is made 
into by-products, of course not including tlie frosted or 
shrunken grain or the screenings. 

Wheat bran is probably more extensively used in feed- 
ing live stock than any single by-product of any kind of 
grain. There are but few instances in which it may not be 
fed to live stock with decided benefit. It is richer in protein 
than the whole grain which gives it high adaptation to the 
needs of growing animals and to milk production. It con- 
tains a large proportion of the mineral matter and a con- 
siderable proportion of the gluten which makes it good bone 
making food. It has the requisite bulkiness necessary to 
make it feed well with highly concentrated foods such as 
corn. 

The germ remnants in it to some extent promote diges- 
tion. It is also a mild laxative. The feeding value of bran, 
except perhaps for young swine, is higher than chemical 
analyses would indicate. Moreover, the fertilizer from 
feeding it is rich in plant food. The best interests of agri- 
culture, therefore, demand that this by-product shall be re- 
tained and fed in the country to the greatest extent possible. 

For calves, bran is excellent from the time that they be- 
gin to take food other than milk. It is specially helpful 
when feeding some concentrated food as corn or rye meal, 
but is not so necessary when feeding ground oats. For 
growing calves, the bran should usually form not less than 
two-thirds of the meal when fed along with corn, rye or 
barley meal, but for calves that are being fattened, it should 
not form a large proportion of the meal ration and in some 
instances none at all. For young cattle that are being win- 
tered on dry fodder other than clover hay, two or three 
pounds of bran fed daily, or even a less quantity with other 
meal, will produce excellent results. There is perhaps no 
kind of meal that will not be improved as food by its pres- 
ence, and the more dense and concentrated the meal, the 
more beneficial it is to mix bran with it and the larger is the 
quantity of bran that may be mixed into it. 



268 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

For cattle being fattened, bran may be fed with much 
benefit as a part of the ration from the beginning to the end 
of the feeding period when it is not too costly, but it should 
be used in very gradually decreasing proportions. When 
sufficiently cheap, it may form as mtich as one-half the grain 
ration by weight, in the first stages of fattening. By the 
middle of the period, it should seldom form more than one- 
third of the ration and even a less proportion is preferable. 
By the end of the fattening period, only a small amount is 
needed, and when oil meal is fed, none at all. In forced feed- 
ing with strong concentrates as corn, bran so lightens the 
mass in the stomach that digestive disturbances are warded 
off, but when oats form a considerable proportion of the 
food fed, it is not needed except in so far as it exerts a 
wholesome influence on the digestive tract. Bran has been 
used with considerable success in fattening animals along 
with good prairie hay when the bran was low in price. 

For cozvs in milk, wheat bran is specially well adapted 
since it furnishes abundantly protein and ash and also a 
fair amount of starchy matter. Moreover, its bulky char- 
acter, as in fattening cattle, tends to make more porous the 
mass of the heavy concentrates when mixed with them. 
Even cottonseed meal is improved by such admixture, al- 
though the nutritive constituents are approximately the 
same. Bran may form any part of the meal ration or the 
whole of it, according to the relative cost. When fed alone, 
from eight to ten pounds may be given to a cow daily. Fed 
along with such concentrates as corn, rye and barley, the 
fodder being carbonaceous in character, as corn, sorghum 
or any of the grasse's, one-half the meal fed by weight may 
consist of bran, but should the fodder be leguminous, as 
clover hay, it will suffice if bran forms say one-third of the 
mixture. Usually not more than nine pounds of such a mix- 
ture are needed daily. Bran, ground oats and ground corn, in 
equal parts by weight, furnish a grand concentrate for dairy 
cows. No other by-product is so much used in feeding for 
milk in this country as bran. 



FOODS FROM BY-PRODUCTS 269 

For sheep, bran serves a good purpose and for breed- 
ing ewes when fed as a part of the grain ration, but it is 
rather coarse for being fed to very young lambs. It is par- 
ticularly helpful to breeding ewes when J;he fodder consists 
largely of corn or the grasses. With such roughage, as 
much as one-half the grain ration may be composed of bran, 
when such grain as corn, barley, or rye are being fed, but 
usually a less proportion will suffice. A mixture which is 
two parts oats and one bran by weight is very valuable for 
such feeding. When fed along with leguminous fodders, 
but little bran is needed. Subsequently to the lambing pe- 
riod, the free feeding of bran will be found highly conducive 
to milk production. The feeding value of bran is not so 
high relatively for sheep that are being fattened. Sheep 
are not so fond of bran as of some other kinds of meal or 
grain, hence care should be taken not to feed it to them in 
excess while fattening or the gains will not be entirely 
satisfactory. And yet, in the absence of oil cake or field 
roots, a small proportion of bran will be found beneficial. 
Along with heavy corn fjeeding it is really essential. 

For swine, bran has not so high adaptation as for feed- 
ing cattle, horses or sheep and yet may frequently be 
used with profit in the judicious feeding of swine. For 
young swine it is too coarse and bulky and has in it too 
large a proportion of crude fibre. Nor is it the best food 
that can be given to swine during the growing period, but 
with advance in age it becomes increasingly suitable for 
them. It is seldom fed, even as a part of a ration, to swine 
that are being fattened. It may, however, be fed as a factor 
of the meal ration along with concentrated grains to brood 
sows before or after farrowing and to the extent of forming 
when necessary at least 50 per cent of the meal fed. 

For horses, bran is frequently given a place in the 
diet of animals, young and old, but the amount fed daily is 
usually quite small. In other instances it is fed not more 
frequently than once or twice a week, when it is scalded and 



270 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

fed as a mash with a view probably to render it more laxa- 
tive. In other instances it is not fed at all. A small quan- 
tity fed daily exercises a salutary influence on the digestion 
of horses of all classes when on dry feed and not worked 
severely, including weanling foals, yard horses, brood 
mares, stallions and horses at moderate work. It is too laxa- 
tive and not sufficiently nutritive for horses that are worked 
severely, but in some instances they have been worked some- 
what severely for a considerable period on bran as the sole 
concentrate. 

Bran is rather preferred to middlings when feeding an- 
imals that are being fattened, whether cattle or sheep, as it 
makes a more desirable blend with fine meals as corn and 
cottonseed meal and is less pasty when being masticated. 
Bran and shorts have been found about equal for milk pn^- 
duction when fed to cows, but as a food for swine, bran is 
far below middlings. Bran is not quite equal to oats pound 
for pound for producing milk, or to a mixture of ground 
oats and barley, but the difTerence is slight. Swine fed 
chiefly on bran will not thrive so well nor keep healthy so 
long as swine fed chiefly on ground barley or rye. It should 
not be much used in fattening cattle when the relative value 
per pound is more than one-half that of oil meal and kindred 
feeds. Bran, when fed daily to horses, is commonly fed dry, 
but when fed occasionally, as mash. It is also fed in the dry 
form to cattle and sheep but is soaked before being fed to 
swine. 

Middlings and shorts are so nearly alike in their com- 
position and feeding qualities, notwithstanding some differ- 
ences, that it will be in order to discuss them together. 
Thev have luore starchy matter and less crude fibre than 
bran and are therefore better adapted relatively to animals 
whose digestive capacity unfits them for taking large quan- 
tities of bulky food. Although it is considerably more con- 
centrated than bran, it is no richer in protein and is even 
less rich in mineral matter. Middlings have never stood so 
high relatively for feeding cattle and sheep as bran, but they 



FOODS FROM BY-PRODUCTS 27 1 

may be so fed in due admixture with considerable benefit. 
They are less satisfactory as a diluent of the heavier kinds 
of meal and when fed, the quantity given is less than in the 
case of bran. The results from feeding middlings and corn 
to cows has proved quite satisfactory, the quantity re- 
quired being about 25 per cent less than when feeding bran. 
Middlings are preeminently adapted for feeding to swine. 
No kind of meal is better for swine of all ages when due re- 
gard is had to the quantity fed. When the prices admit of 
such feeding, they may be made the sole meal ration for 
pigs before weaning; a large proportion of the same dur- 
ing the growing period, and 50 to 75 per cent of the ration 
of brood sows suckling their young. Even when pigs are 
being fattened they are sometimes fed so as to form from 
25 to 50 per cent of the ration. Shorts and corn have been 
found to make increase about 25 per cent greater than corn 
alone and considerably greater than shorts alone. When 
fed alone during the finishing period, they produce pork 
somewhat soft. Middlings and skim milk are two of the 
standard foods in areas where bacon pork of prime quality 
is produced. Because of the high adaptation of middlings 
to pork production, under some conditions, it is in order to 
purchase them in large quantities for feeding swine. When 
fed to horses, unless duly admixed with other concentrates, 
it is said that they tend to induce colic. 

Red dog flour is rich in protein and fat. It contains 
much of the germs of the wheat and because of its compo- 
sition and fineness is preeminently adapted for feeding to 
growing swine. In limited quantities it has also been found 
quite useful for feeding to horses that are worked hard and 
to milch cows. 

Frosted zvheat has much the same feeding qualities as 
matured wdieat, unless the freezing takes place several davs 
before the wheat is matured, and is probably quite as useful 
pound for pound for feeding purposes. The same is true 
of shrunken wheat. It is even richer in protein than wheat 
not shrunken, and because of this and of the higher bran 



2/2 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

element it contains, it is more valuable relatively for some 
kinds of feeding than plump wheat. These facts are im- 
portant to the grower of wheat since frosted and shrunken 
wheat are much discounted in the market. These may be 
fed in the same way as matured wheat (see p. 225). 

Wheat screenings is a sort of indeterminable quantity, 
owing to the great difference in the composition of the vari- 
ous grades. Screenings that consist largely of broken ker- 
nels and small and shrivelled grains, are usually as valuable 
for feeding as pure wheat, whereas screenings that are 
light and chaffy in character may prove of out little use for 
any kind of feeding. Sceenings in the ungrouna form are 
usually fed to sheep that are being fattened alone or in con- 
junction with other kinds of grain. They have been found 
eminently suited to such feeding, as they are a safe and 
healthful food. Moreover, they usually contain a variety 
of weed seeds that are rich in fattening properties, and that 
are much relished by sheep. They may be fed in restricted 
quantities or in self feeders, and in some instances but little 
fodder is fed along with them. They may be fed in con- 
junction with any of the cereals and in any quantity de- 
sired. Sometimes they are fed along with wheat shorts. 
They are also fed with good results to cattle and swine in 
the ground form and soaked when fed to the latter. 

Barley by-products. — Barley is extensively used in the 
manufacture of beer and other spirituous liquors. Conse- 
quently the by-products obtained from it are large in vol- 
ume. Chief among these are brewers' grains, distillers' 
grains and malt sprouts. Brewers' grains are the residue 
left after the soluble dextrin and sugar have been extracted 
from the malt. Barley is valuable for malting in proportion 
as it is rich in starch and bright in color, hence barley, rich 
in protein, and, therefore, of high value for feeding, may 
grade low for malting, as the starch is the valuable element 
for making beer. Nearly all the protein is left in the grain. 
The residue, therefore, is richer relatively in nitrogen than 
the original barley, although in the wet form it is very much 



FOODS FROM BY-PRODUCTS 2"/ 2^ 

Miore bulky. Lavves and Gilbert have shown, however, that 
barley is worth more for feeding uses than the malt and malt 
sprouts obtained from it. Brewers' grains are fed in the 
wet form when fed within a reasonable distance of the 
brewery, otherwise they are dried before feeding them. If 
not soon fed in the wet form, they will spoil, but in the dried 
form they may be kept indefinitely. Distillers' grains are 
the residue left after the alcohol has been separated from 
the grain by distillation, following the fermentive processes. 
They have much the same composition as brewers' grains, 
but are more watery. They contain only eight or nine per 
cent of dry matter, whereas brewers' grains contain about 
24 per cent. Malt sprouts are essentially very young barley 
sprouts, about two-thirds as long as the grain. They are 
obtained by sprouting barley when preparing malt. Fur- 
ther sprouting is stopped by drying the malt when the 
sprouts fall off or are separated by a winnowing process. 
As shown in the table they are very rich in protein. 

For cattle of all ages, brewers' grains are much rel- 
ished and as a source of protein they rank high. They 
are generally fed to cows with a view to milk produc- 
tion, but may also be fed to other cattle when the price will 
admit of so feeding them. In the dry form they rank along 
with such foods as bran and oil meal for dairy cows and are 
no more perishable than either. They are most extensively 
used in New England dairies and much is also exported to 
Germany. Four to five pounds may be fed daily to a ma- 
ture cow, and in the wet form five to six times these 
amounts. They should be fed along with, say two to four 
pounds of such concentrates as corn or corn meal per day, 
dependent somewhat on the fodder. When fed in the wet 
form every care should be taken to keep the mangers and 
feed boxes in a clean condition, especially in warm weather, 
or offensive odors may aiise which will affect adversely the 
quality of the milk. 

Inattention to these particulars has in some instances 
led to the prohibition of the sale of such milk by boards of 



274 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

health. Brewers' grains may sometimes be fed with de- 
cided profit to calves and young cattle, but usually other 
foods may be obtained more cheaply for fattening, unless in 
the immediate vicinity of the brewery. 

For feeding sheep, brewers' grains are not considered 
so suitable as for feeding cattle, especially in the wet form. 
Sheep do not take so kindly to sloppy food as swine or even 
cows. But where the cost will admit of such feeding, dry 
brewers' grains should answer well as a part of the ration 
for breeding ewes. 

To szvine, brewers' grains are not much fed at any con- 
siderable distance from the place of their production, but 
feeding them to young swine will tend much to promote 
growth, and for sows nursing their young, they should be 
quite as good as for cows nursing theirs. But, as a source 
of protein, they will probably be found too costly for feed- 
ing swine. 

To hoj'ses, trials made on brewers grains, even when 
at work, have proved satisfactory. The general condition 
and also the energy were pronounced as good as when oats 
were fed. At the New Jersey station it was found econom- 
ical to feed them to street car horses, but the outcome from 
such feeding is largely dependent on relative values. As a 
food for foals, young horses and brood mares, the results 
should be satisfactory from the judicious feeding of brew- 
ers' grains. 

Distillers' grains, being a very watery food when fed 
in the wet form, are best adapted for being fed to cattle for 
milk or for beef. The stables in which the animals are fat- 
tened are usually not far distant from the place of distilla- 
tion. For both uses these grains have high adaptation when 
fed with suitable adjuncts. They are not so well adapted 
for being fed to sheep, swine and horses, but under certain 
conditions may answer well for swine. 

Malt sprouts are commonly fed to cows for milk pro- 
duction. They are highly adapted for such a use, since they 
contain about 20 per cent of digestible protein. Moreover, 



FOODS FROM H V-l'KODUCT« 275 

when properly prepared for feeding, they are a succuient 
food. But they may also be used in feeding various other 
domestic animals by adding them to the ration in moderate 
quantities, to increase the protein in the same. Live stock 
are not usually so fond of malt sprouts as of brewers' 
grains, hence they must needs be fed with more moderation. 
From two to three pounds will usually answer daily in the 
ration for milch cows. As they absorb much water, they 
are usually soaked several hours before feeding them. 

Flax by-products. — The principal by-product of flax 
seed is oil cake, more commonly spoken of as oil meal. It 
is used as food for live stock. Oil cake is the residue left 
after the oil has been removed. When removed by hy- 
draulic pressure only, it is known as old process oil cake. 
When chemicals are used in extracting the oil, it is known 
as new process. It is sold as oil cake or as oil meal, both 
terms being applied to it in a somewhat loose sense. Oil 
cake, properly speaking, is the residue pressed into large 
flat cakes after the oil has been removed from the seed and 
the moisture from the residue. Oil meal is the cake finely 
ground. Adulterants are sometimes mixed with the meal. 
The cake cannot be thus readily adulterated, hence the 
preference for it in foreign markets. For a similar reason, 
many feeders prefer to feed it in the "nut" form, that is, in 
the form that is broken up into small pieces about the size 
of mixed nuts as ordinarily found in the market. The meal 
is usually fed to animals that are quite young. It is not well 
suited to outdoor feeding as it may be lifted by the wind. 
The old process meal contains a little more oil than the new 
and a little less relatively of total protein. But it has a 
higher per cent of digestible protein, as cooking the meal in 
the new process reduces somewhat the digestibility of the 
protein. The two kinds of meal may be distinguished by 
placing a small quantity of each in separate glasses and 
pouring on a small quantity of hot water. The old process 
meal thus treated will form a jelly-like mass, and. since the 
new process meal has been already cooked, it does not jelly 



276 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

again. In feeding value, the old and new process meals do 
not differ greatly. The former has probably a higher feed- 
ing value for young calves and lambs, owing to its higher 
content of oil or fat. 

Oil cake is one of the most valuable and useful, if not 
the most generally valuable and useful of all the by-prod- 
ucts of the farm. It is not only rich in protein, but it is 
preeminently a safe food. When fed judiciously, there is 
no class of animals kept upon the farm to which it may not 
be fed with profit for a longer or shorter period. It is 
much relished by all classes of domestic animals, and it is 
to some extent an appetizer as well as a food. It is mildly 
laxative and exercises a salutary influence on the digestive 
tract. There is no kind of meal with which it may not be 
fed satisfactorily should occasion call for such feeding. As 
stated elsewhere, its real feeding value is considerably high- 
er than chemical analysis would assign to it. It also gives 
to the hair a glossy appearance indicative of thrift on the 
part of the animal possessing it. 

For cattle of all ages and of all classes, oil cake fur- 
nishes an admirable food. Its value for feeding calves dur- 
ing the milk period has already been referred to (see 
p. 250). To all classes of growing animals, it may be fed 
with much benefit in the winter season along with grain or 
meal, when not too dear for such feeding. It may form as 
much as 10 per cent of the concentrate fed. Its use is 
equally helpful in the winter grain ration for cattle that are 
to be finished on pasture. But it is not so necessary to feed 
it, nor will the benefits be so great relatively, when field 
roots are being fed at the same time. In fattening cattle, 
it is a favorite food, but rather as an adjunct to the meal ra- 
tion than as a principal portion of the same. In other words 
the benefits are relatively greater when the oil cake is fed in 
moderate quantities of say 'one to three pounds rather than 
as a principal factor in the same. But should the cost jus- 
tify it, oil cake may be fed to the extent of forming half 
the meal ration, the other portion being some carbonaceous 



FOODS FROM BY-PRODUCTS 277 

food as corn. From such feeding, rapid gains are secured. 
It is more common to feed oil cake in small quantities and 
toward the close of the fattening season, as then the sooth- 
ing effects of this food are more needed than at other times. 
When feeding for show purposes, it is almost considered in 
a sense a necessity, because of the favorable influence which 
it exerts on digestion under forced feeding, and also be- 
cause of the fine, glossy coat which results from feeding it. 
As a food for cows in milk, oil cake up to a certain limit is 
most satisfactory. Beyond that limit it is thought to affect 
the quality of butter adversely, both in regard to firmness 
and keeping properties. The limit may be fixed at, say 
three pounds per animal per day. Carefully conducted tests 
have shown that the increase in milk production did not 
keep pace wath increase in amount of oil cake fed, when fed 
in large quantities. In tests at the Pennsylvania experiment 
station, it was found that rather more milk resulted from 
feeding cotton seed meal, but that a little more butter re- 
sulted from feeding oil meal, pound for pound. As a regu- 
lator of digestion, oil meal is, of course, as helpful with 
dairy cows as with animals that are being fattened. The 
necessity for feeding it decreases with decrease in the 
amount of carbohydrates fed, and also in the forcing char- 
acter of the ration, and with increase in the amount of bran, 
field roots or other succulent food fed 

For sheep, oil cake is quite as satisfactory as for feed- 
ing cattle. It furnishes an excellent food for feeding to 
lambs, even at an early age or as a part of the grain ration 
subsequently to the weaning season. A limited amount is 
excellent for sheep that are being wintered on dry food and 
for breeding ewes. When fattening lambs and mature sheep 
on dry food, it is equally beneficial, and may be fed to them 
in larger quantities, proportionate to the forced character 
of the feeding. More commonly it is not fed to form more 
than 10 per cent of the meal ration, but may be in a much 
larger proportion when the price will justify such feeding. 



2/8 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

For swine, oil cake is probably not so valuable rela- 
tively as for feeding cattle and sheep, especially when fed 
in relatively large quantities., as when thus fed it seems to 
affect adversely the appetite. But when fed to form not 
more than 5 per cent of the meal portioji, the results will 
be beneficial. Small amounts may be fed with profit to swine 
under all conditions, except when they are being given an 
abundance of succulent food. 

In feeding horses, oil cake is quite as helpful as in feed- 
ing cattle and swine. Under all conditions, moderate quan- 
tities may be fed with benefit to horses of all classes and of 
all ages, except when they are on pasture or are being given 
other succulent food as field roots. The grain ration given 
to foals, to horses not yet mature and to brood mares, will 
be improved by adding to it say 5 per cent of oil meal. 
Work horses may be fed say one-fourth of a pound per day 
under average conditions. Quantities considerably larger 
should be given to horses that are being prepared for spring 
work. Under almost all conditions this food tends to give 
a gloss to the coat which materially improves the appear- 
ance. 

Corn by-products. — Chief among the products of corn 
are starch, sugar, glucose, alcohol and beer. These are not 
used as food for live stock. In their manufacture, however, 
certain residues are left which are of much value in feeding 
certain classes of live stock. Prominent among them are 
gluten meal and gluten feed. The minor by-products fed to 
stock include corn bran, corn germ and corn oil meal. Glu- 
ten meal is a residue from the manufacture of starch and 
glucose. It is what remains after the hull, starch and germ 
have been removed. It is separated from the starch by the 
action of water. As the analysis indicates, it is rich in pro- 
tein and has a feeding value equal to that of oil cake. Glu- 
ten feed is virtually what is left of the corn germ after the 
starch has been removed. It, therefore, contains both the 
hull and the germ and as a result is lower in protein and 
liisjher in crude fibre than gluten meal. Gluten meal and 



FOODS FROM BY-PRODUCTS 279 

gluten feed, because of their concentration, are usually fed 
in conjunction with foods less concentrated, as wheat bran. 
Corn bran is composed of hulls removed from the kernels. 
From 5 to 6 per cent of the grain consists of hull or 
bran. Corn bran contains practically all the crude fibre 
found in the grain. Its feeding value is low, but it may be 
used with advantage in diluting concentrated foods by mix- 
ing it with them. Corn germs are very rich in protein, 
ether extract and in mineral matters, hence their adaptation 
for being fed with caution to young animals. They com- 
prise about 10 per cent of the kernel. Corn oil meal is the 
residue of the germ that is left after the oil has been ex- 
tracted from it. It may be fed in considerable quantities to 
young animals. For such feeding it is valuable. When the 
products of the factories are disposed of in a wet condition, 
they are known as wet starch or wet glucose feeds. 

To cattle of all classes and ages, gluten meal has been 
found not only a safe food, but also one that is relatively 
economical. It is palatable also as well as safe. It may be 
fed with much freedom to calves during the milk period and 
subsequently, and also to growing animals to which concen- 
trates are fed. The other foods to be fed with it will de- 
pend on the object sought in feeding. When growth only is 
sought, the complement of the gluten should be such food 
as oats. W^hen fattening also is sought it should be such 
food as corn. As a food adjunct in fattening cattle at the 
Ohio experiment station, it was found fully equal to oil 
meal in making increase on the basis of relative cost when 
the price paid for oil meal pound for pound was twice that 
of gluten meal. For feeding cows it has been found fully 
equal to cottonseed meal when fed so that the nutrients are 
equal. When feeding gluten meal to cattle the aim should 
be to feed it with some more bulky concentrate unless when 
it is being fed to young calves. 

For sheep, gluten meal has not been much used as 
concentrate. It should, however, because of its reasonably 
fine character and high protein content, make an excellent 



280 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

/ 

food for young milk lambs. It should also feed well with 
such foods as corn in fattening sheep when a little. bran also 
is fed to increase the bulk and to prevent constipation. 

For young sivinc, gluten meal furnishes an excellent 
food. When thus fed, its concentration and fineness are 
beneficial rather than otherwise. For such feeding it may 
take the place of wheat middlings when the cost is not too 
much For growing swine of all ages it is also excellent. 
In trials made at the Vermont experiment station, gluten 
meal fed along with corn was found to be 7 per cent 
more valuable than wheat. 

To horses, gluten meal is not much fed for the reason 
probably that it is thought to be more valuable relatively for 
growing animals and for milk production. Nevertheless, 
it may be fed with much propriety as a part of the ration 
for foals, when the price will admit of it. It will also go 
well along with corn when the latter furnishes the bulk ot 
the ration for work horses. 

To young animals, when gluten meal is fed, a small 
amount of oil meal should improve the ration, as the for- 
mer does not contain the mildly laxative principle found in 
the latter. For a similar reason, a small proportion of 
wheat bran will be found helpful when gluten meal is fed to 
animals going on toward maturity or matured. If field 
roots are being fed, the advantages from feeding oil cake 
or wheat bran will be less apparent if at all in evidence. 

Much that has been said about gluten meal will apply 
nearly as well to gluten feed, the proportion of protein be- 
ing less and of crude fibre more than in gluten meal. Glu- 
ten feed is not quite so suitable for young animals. On the 
other hand, its somewhat greater bulk makes the addition 
of some such food as bran less necessary when it is fed to 
animals well grown. The use of gluten meal and gluten 
feed will certainly increase much in the future since much 
increase in the manufacture of by-products from corn is 
assured. 



FOODS FROM BY-PRODUCTS 28I 

Other cereal by-products. — The by-products of rye, 
oats, peas, buckwheat and rice, are possessed of some feed- 
ing vahie, but they are not so valuable relatively as the by- 
products of wheat, barley, corn and flax. 

Rye. — Rye by-products; viz., rye bran and rye shortc, 
are chemically not far different from those of wheat. In 
some of the countries of northwestern Europe, they are used 
to a considerable degree in feeding stock. In America, rye is 
not extensively manufactured into bread, consequently its 
by-products are not to be had in large amovmts for feeding. 
Rye, bran and shorts are sometimes fed for milk produc- 
tion, but they are not so highly prized for such a use as the 
by-products of wheat. It is said that when these products 
are thus fed in large quantities, they aft'ect adversely the 
flavor of both milk and butter. Rye shorts have not proved 
equal to rye or barley for making pork, viewed from the 
standpoint of production. The pork also made from rye 
shorts has been pronounced inferior in quality, being softer 
and also shrinking more than pork made from ground rye 
or barley. 

Oats. — The principal by-products of oats are known ac 
oat feed and oat dust. These are variable in their compo- 
sition, but not infrequently the former is composed of oat 
chaff and the latter of minute hairs found at one end of the 
kernel. Broken grains add to the value of such food. 
When composed entirely of hulls, it is not worth much 
more than an equal weight of oat chaff. It is not infre- 
quently used to adulterate mill feed, the presence of the 
hulls being intended to show, that the mixture cont?''""* 
ground oats. Oat meal, such as is used for porridge, i ai; 
excellent food on which to start young animals when be- 
ginning to take food other than milk. 

Peas. — The chief by-product of peas comes from es- 
tablishments where they are commercially prepared as hu- 
man food. It is frequently referred to as split peas. It 
consists of broken and defective kernels and any foreign 



282 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

food substances found in the grain as it comes to the fac- 
tories. Such food in the unground form is excellent for 
feeding sheep and in the ground form for feeding cattle and 
sheep. 

Buckzvheat. — The principal by-product of buckwheat 
is the hulls. They are of low feeding value, so low as to be 
of questionable utility for ordinary feeding. Unscrupulous 
dealers sometimes use them in a finely ground form for 
adulterating mill feed. When used thus in considerable 
quantities, they give a brownish or dark tint to the food. 

Rice. — The chief by-products of rice are known as rice 
hulls, rice grain, rice polish and rice meal. Rice hulls are 
very woody and are possessed of but little feeding value 
when used alone, but they may serve a useful purpose by 
mixing them with certain kinds of meal to increase their 
porosity. Rice grain is composed of the outer portions of 
the kernel and a part of the germ. As a food for cows and 
pigs it is possessed of considerable value. Rice polish, 
which is a dust-like powder, is rich in the elements of nutri- 
tion, and has proved valuable in feeding cows and pigs. 
Rice meal is said to be excellent for milk production, and 
for such a use may be freely fed with safety. 

Cotton seed by-products. — Cotton seed as it comes 
from the gin consists of hull, kernel and fibre. The hull is 
the hard, tough, leathery covering. The kernel is the soft 
part of the seed within, of a yellowish color and of oily con- 
sistency. The lint, more commonly kjiown as "linters," 
consists of short fibres not removed by the gin. The by- 
products of cotton seed are meal, hulls, oil and lint. Ac- 
cording to the tenth census of the United States, 35 per 
cent of the seed consists of meal, 48.9 per cent of hull, 12.5 
per cent of oil and i.i per cent of lint. Other authorities 
give the percentage of oil as being somewhat greater. The 
meal and hulls only of these by-products are used for feed- 
ing live stock. Until within a comparatively recent period 
the hulls were used as fuel by the oil mills. 



FOODS FROM BV-PRODL'CTS 283 

Cottonseed meal is the finely ground residue of the 
kernel after the oil has been removed from it. In color it 
should be a light yellow. A dark color in the meal indicates 
the presence of ground hulls. This may be definitely ascer- 
tained by putting a small quantity of the meal in a glass, 
pouring over it hot water accompanied or followed by stir- 
ring, allowing it to settle for but a few seconds and then 
pouring ofif the unsettled portion. If the residue is darker 
in color than the untreated meal, ground hulls are present, 
and if successive treatments intensify the dark color of the 
sediment, the adulteration is proportionate. Cottonseed 
meal is probably the richest protein food in the market. It 
contains about 7,y per cent of digestible protein. When fed 
in reasonable quantities and in proper combination with 
other food stufifs, it furnishes a satisfactory food for ail 
classes of farm animals except swine, and in some instances 
calves. When damaged by mould or wet, or by undue heat- 
ing, it should not be fed. 

For cattle, cottonseed meal has been found of great 
value except in feeding calves. While in some instances 
calves do well on it, in other instances death has resulted 
from feeding it even in small quantities over prolonged 
periods. The difference in the methods of feeding the meal 
and in the combinations in which it is fed, may account 
for the difference in the results referred to. Two or three 
pounds daily fed to young cattle when not on pasture, will 
prove very helpful in promoting growth. When the accom- 
panying fodders are leguminous, not less than 50 per cent of 
the meal should consist of corn, barley or rye. A small 
amount of wheat bran or oats fed along with it lightens up 
the ration. 

This meal is excellent for fattening cattle. The 
proportion of the cottonseed meal and com to be fed 
will depend upon the stage of the fattening and the charac- 
ter of the fodder. The proportion of the corn should in- 
crease with the advancement of the feeding period and with 
increase in the carbonaceous character of the fodder and vice 



284 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

versa. Usually not more than 4 or 5 pounds per ani- 
mal are fed daily at any stage of the fattening to a mature 
cattle beast. In some instances in the South, large numbers 
of cattle are fattened at the mills on cotton seed and hulls. 
At first, they are not fed more than 3 or 4 pounds of 
the meal daily, which is gradually increased to 6 to 10 
pounds according to the capacity of the animals. They are 
given in addition all the hulls that they will consume, and 
in 90 to 120 days are ready for the shambles. 

Cottonseed meal has proved a very satisfactory food 
for dairy cows. In certain trials made, it has been found 
superior even to wheat bran, pound for pound, in sustaining 
the milk flow, at least for a limited period. As much as 6 
pounds per day may be fed for short periods of feeding, 
but not more than 4 pounds per day should be given in 
prolonged feeding for milk or butter production, and 3 
pounds would probably be a safer amount. It is a strong 
concentrate, and if fed in excess, deranged digestion will 
certainly follow. It has been claimed that cottonseed meal 
should be fed with a prudent caution to cows within two or 
three months of calving, and for three or four weeks sub- 
sequently. It feeds well along with ground oats, as the 
oats furnish the necessary bulk. From the standpoint of 
nutrients, cottonseed meal and corn make an excellent com- 
bination, and cotton seed and rye or barley are suitable, but 
the addition of some bran to add to the bulk will improve 
the ration. Cottonseed meal adds to the firmness of butter, 
a fact of no little importance in warm climates. 

For sheep, cottonseed meal judiciously used is quite 
helpful. Fed along with oats it makes a good concentrate 
for breeding ewes, nfore especially when the fodder is car- 
bonaceous. One part of cottonseed meal and three parts of 
oats, or one and two parts of each when a small amount Is 
fed, should prove satisfactory. At all times, however, it 
should be fed with a prudent caution to pregnant ewes, 
lest it should cause abortion. If the roughage were 
leguminous, corn could be fed instead of oats. For sheep 



FOODS FROM BY-PRODUCTS 28 



and lambs that are being fattened, cottonseed meal and 
corn have been found to answer well in the South, when 
oats are fed instead of corn in whole or in part until 
the animals are on full feed. The safer plan is to start 
them on oats and then to add corn gradually. After about 
three weeks of feeding, add say 34 pound of cottonseed 
meal per day, and gradually increase the amount until the 
meal ration consists of one part cottonseed meal and two 
parts corn by weight. 

For stvine, cottonseed meal is not an entirely safe 
food when fed to them in an}- considerable quanti- 
ties, and for a prolonged period, would seem to be a 
conclusion justified by the results of experience and also 
by those of experiment. It has been noticed that swine to 
which cottonseed meal is fed for prolonged periods eventu- 
ally begin to show lack of thrift, and finally a large pro- 
portion of them sicken and die, unless the feeding of the 
meal should be discontinued when the first symptoms of 
sickness appear. These results sometimes follow, but not 
in all instances, w'hen the meal is obtained through the 
medium of the droppings of cattle when cottonseed meal 
forms a considerable proportion of the concentrate fed to 
them. When only a small amount is fed, the injurious in- 
fluences to the swine are seldom if ever manifested. The 
sickness in swine to which meal is fed directly, usually be- 
gins in 30 to 50 days, according to the inherent vigor of the 
animals, the amount fed, and the losses increase with the 
prolongation of the feeding. If swine thus affected are re- 
moved from cattle yards and fed on other food for a 
few weeks, they may again be allowed to glean for a time 
in the cattle yards without hazard. The symtoms of the 
sickness include moping and sluggishness in the victims, a 
tendency to lie apart and loss of appetite. There is labored 
breathing and weak heart action. Post mortems have 
shown that the digestive tract has been highly inflamed. 
These results follow when not more than 25 per cent of the 
regular ration is composed of cottonseed meal. Roasted 



286 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

seed has been found about equally harmful, but boiling the 
seed very greatly reduces the danger. The ill effects have 
been ascribed to the lint, to moulds, and to changes in the 
composition of the meal through exposure. Others think 
they are due to the presence of some principle in the meal 
itself that is poisonous to swine, and cumulative in its 
action Notwithstanding, some feeders affirm that cotton- 
seed meal may be fed to swine with safety when it is fed in 
the form of a thin slop, about the consistency of buttermilk. 
This they clam will prevent injury from the lint which 
they believe to be the source of the danger. 

For horses, as a concentrate, cottonseed meai should 
be fed only as a small part of the ration. In trials 
made, as much as 2 pounds per animal per day have 
been fed with safety, but when the amount fed was in- 
creased much beyond 2 pounds per day, the outcome was 
not entirely satisfactory. Experience in feeding it up to 
the present would indicate that it should only be fed in lim- 
ited quantities to horses and mules. 

Cotton seed hulls, in the ground form, are fed with 
nnich freedom to cattle and sheep that are being fattened, 
also to cows giving milk (see p. 425). To cov/s in milk 
as much as 14 or 15 pounds per day have been fed for each 
1000 pounds of live weight in the cows, without produc- 
ing harmful results. Feeding large amounts has resulted 
in deranged digestion, evidencd in some instances in a 
lax condition of the bowels, and in others in a constipated 
condition of the same. When fattening cattle and sheep 
in proximity to the mills, they are frequently given hulls 
to take the place of roughage and are allowed to consume 
virtually all that they will eat up clean. 

While cottonseed meal is possessed of great value for 
feeding live stock, from what has been said, it will be evi- 
dent that there are restrictions which must be observed in 
feeding it. Its highest value is found in fattening cattle 
and in feeding cows for milk. It should only be fed in 
small quantities to horses, while the wisdom of feeding it 



FOODS FROM BY-PRODUCTS 287 

to calves quite young and to swine, is at least problematical. 
These restrictions upon feeding this by-product lower its 
value somewhat relatively, when comparing it with such 
foods as oil cake and gluten meal. 

Sugar beet by-product. — Sugar beet pulp is the resi- 
due left from sugar beets after the sugar has been ex- 
tracted. It is fed in the fresh form as taken from the fac- 
tory, as ensilage and also in the dried form. It is probable 
that it will be a food product of much importance relatively 
in this country, as the sugar beet industry promises to be- 
come one of much magnitude in the near future. Owing 
to the bulky nature of the pulp in the fresh form and to the 
large amount of water that it contains, it should be fed at or 
near the factories, but in the dried form it is not more 
costly to transport than concentrated foods. Farmers who 
live near the factory may feed the fresh pulp with profit 
during a limited portion of the year. Feeders who save it 
by ensiling at the factory, may feed it with advantage dur- 
ing the major portion of the same, as it is not difficult to 
preserve it. It may be ensiled in the same way as corn and 
other green fodders, but it may also be preserved by putting 
it into large, basin-like pits excavated in the ground, into 
which it is dumped to the depth of several feet and allowed 
to remain until it is fed. Decay follows to the depth of a 
few inches from the surface. Underneath this decayed 
mass, the pulp will keep indefinitely. In proximity to the 
factories it is fed from these pits or silos to large numbers 
of cattle and sheep that are being finished for the market. 

The undried pulp is not only too costly to transport, 
but it soon ferments when exposed. About 90 per cent of 
the pulp is water. But little of the protein is removed in 
the juice, hence, the pulp is particularly valuable as a food 
for young animals, and for producing milk. As it exercises 
a salutary influence on digestion, the pulp has a feeding 
value in excess of the nutrients which it contains, when ju- 
diciously fed and along with dry food. This physiological 
value, so to speak, decreases with increase in the quantity 



288 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

fed, and may be lost entirely by excessive feeding. When 
fed heavily, it induces a lax condition of the bowels, hence 
the wisdom of feeding dry fodders along with it. Wheat 
bran, clover and alfalfa make very suitable complementary 
foods. The pulp is not equal to the beets in feeding value, 
and for fattening its value is considerably lower. 

For cattle, sugar beet pulp, like sugar beets, is excel- 
lent and for all classes of cattle. It is particularly valuable as 
a food for }-oung animals, and it may be fed to them with 
much freedom, that is, from say five to 20 pounds a day, ac- 
cording to size and the other food fed. To cattle that are 
finished, as much as 75 pounds per day may be fed to ma- 
ture animals under some conditions. Good, tender and 
juicy meat may be made from sugar beet pulp and alfalfa 
hay only, but usually some grain may be profitably fed in 
addition. The pulp is particularly valuable for dairy cows. 
As much as 50 pounds per day may be fed for long periods, 
and for short periods much more than that amount. The 
cost of the pulp should, of course, have an important bear- 
ing on the amount fed, and when fed, the usual meal ration 
may be proportionately reduced. In the dried form, as 
much as 3 to 5 pounds per day may be fed along with say 30 
pounds of corn ensilage. 

For feeding sheep, beet pulp is excellent, whether kept 
for breeding uses or in fattening them. A very fair qual- 
ity of mutton may be made from pulp and clover or al- 
falfa without grain, but under average conditions, a 
limited amount of grain will tend to cheapen the ration. 
It will be seldom. found profitable to feed sheep more 
than 10 pounds daily, and usually a less amount will be 
more profitable. 

For swine, sugar beet puip is useful especially during 
the growing period and for sows when not on pasture. 
Young and growing swine may be allowed to partake of the 
pulp with much freedom. Brood sows may be wintered on 
the same with the addition of a moderate amount of grain. 



FOODS FROM BY-PRODUCTS 289 

It should not, however, be fed to pigs that are being fat- 
tened in any considerable quantities, owing to its bulk- 
iness. 

For horses, sugar beet pulp in the undried form is 
not so valuable relatively as for feeding cattle or sheep, 
but a few pounds daily may be fed with considerable 
benefit to young animals and brood mares on dry feed. 
If fed in any considerable quantities to horses hard at 
work, it induces too lax a condition of the bowels. 

Milk by-products. — The chief of the by-products of 
milk that are used in feeding live stock, are skim milk, 
buttermilk and whey. Skim milk is the residue left after 
the cream has been removed from the whole milk. But- 
termilk is the residue left from churning the cream after 
the butter has been removed. Whey is the residue left 
in making cheese after the curd has been removed. Skim 
milk is chiefly fed to calves and swine, but is not infre- 
quently fed to foals, and may also be fed to lambs. But- 
termilk is chiefly used in feeding swine but may also be 
fed to calves. Whey is chiefly used in feeding swine, but 
is not infrequently used also in feeding calves. The 
value of these by-products, more especially the first, as 
a source of food for live stock, is very great. 

Skim milk is obtained by two processes ; viz., by 
l:and skimming and by removal through the aid of cen- 
trifugal machines. By the first process, the whole milk, 
as soon as obtained, is strained and left in shallow pans 
or dishes, or in deep cans set in water, until the fat glob- 
ules rise to the top of the milk, when they are removed 
by pouring off the cream. By the second process, the 
milk runs through a centrifugal machine termed a sepa- 
rator, which is driven at a speed so high that the fat 
globules are quickly separated and drawn off as cream. 
By the process of hand skimming, about twice as much 
butter fat remains in the skim milk as when removed by 
the centrifugal process, but even with hand skimming, it 
is seldom that more than .7 of one per cent of the fat is 



290 FEEDING FARM ANKMALS 

left in the ni'lk and by the other process, more than one- 
half of that amount. This preponderance in its fat con- 
tent gives skim milk obtained by the gravity process, 
some superiority for feeding to stock, but it is probably 
more than offset by the fresh and warm condition in 
which separator skim milk is usually fed. 

For calves, skim milk is virtually the standard food 
during the first months of their existence, when they 
are not allowed to suck the dams, and it will become so 
more and more as the conditions of farming intensify. 
The market value of whole milk is such that under many 
conditions of feeding, it will not be profitable to feed it 
to any class of animals on the farm except when of ten- 
der age. The exceptions are, when range or semi-range 
conditions prevail, where high class beef producers are 
grown to provide baby beef (see p. 402), and where 
young animals of beef types are being prepared for the 
show ring. It would be approximately correct to say, that 
during the first three months of the life of a calf, from 
9 to 10 pounds of milk would be required to make 
one pound of increase. During the first weeks, such in- 
crease should be made from half the amount named, but 
the gains which accrue from such feeding, will be much 
influenced by the individuality of the calves. Notwith- 
standing the high value relatively of whole milk, even 
when calves are grown substantially on skim milk, it is 
greatly advantageous to feed whole milk for a time, be- 
ginning, of course, with the birth of the young animal 
as no substitute has been found for whoje milk that so 
completely meets the needs of young animals. 

The duration of the period for feeding whole milk 
will depend first, on the use that is to be made of the calf, 
and second, on its inherent vigor. When the calf is to 
be sold for veal, the greatest profit will result probably 
from feeding it all the whole milk that it can profitably 
take, and selling it at the earliest age at which it will 
take the market. When it is to be sold between the ages, 



FOODS FROM BY-PRODUCTS 29I 

say of 6 and 15 months, the whole milk ration may con- 
tinue for say two or three weeks longer. It may then be 
gradually changed to skim milk, taking two to three 
weeks to make the transition. It is made by withholding 
new milk in gradually increasing quantities until none 
is given, and by increasing the quantity of skim milk fed 
in due proportion. When the animals are reared for 
producing dairy products, whole milk is sometimes fed 
for a period not to exceed one week before beginning 
to feed skim milk, and frequently not more than one 
week is occupied in making the change from all new milk 
to all skim milk. In more instances, however, the period 
of transition covers two weeks. When the animals are 
to be grown for meat and finished when approaching ma- 
turity, it may frequently be profitable to feed all new 
milk for say three weeks, and to make the period of 
change to extend over two or three weeks more. Habit 
in digestion is usually influenced at an early age. 

The earlier the animal is to be disposed of when 
reared chiefly on skim milk during the iiiilk period, the 
more should the habit of fat production be encouraged 
by feeding new milk and vice versa. When grown for 
the dairy, muscular development is sought rather than 
fat, hence no more whole milk should be fed than is nec- 
essary to start the calves aright in the way of correct de- 
velopment. 

The duration for feeding whole milk should ])e de- 
termined largely by the inherent stamina of the animal. 
It is greatly important in the development of both ani- 
mals and plants, that growth at the first shall start vig- 
orously. Should the digestion become impaired at an 
early age, satisfactory development subsequently sel- 
dom follows. Whole milk, therefore, should be fed for a 
period sufificiently long and enough of it should be fed to 
insure to the young animal a vigorous start. 

The amount to feed will depend on the capacity of 
the animal to take the food, on its age, and on the extent 



292 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

to which the milk is supplemented by other food. When 
milk can be spared, it may be fed up to the limit of the 
capacity of the calf to take it without deranging the di- 
gestion, one of the first indications of which is a lax con- 
dition of the bowels. Usually 8 to ib pounds per 
day will prove ample during the first week of feeding 
skim milk, that is to say, about the third week of the life 
of the calf. This quantity may be increased at the rate 
of, say V2 pound per week up to the age of say 15 or 16 
weeks, or as long as the milk period continues. When 
desired, however, the skim milk may be so supplemented 
by other foods, that amounts considerably less than those 
named may be fed without serious detriment to the 
calves. 

The duration of the milk feeding period may be in- 
fluenced by such conditions as the milk supply, the needs 
of the animals, and the extent to which cheaper foods are 
substituted. Usually calves may be more cheaply reared 
on small or moderate amounts of milk than on larger 
amounts of the same, but such feeding calls for an intelli- 
gent selection and use of supplemental foods. When 
skim milk is abundant, it may be fed to calves for many 
months. Some feeders have fed it to yearlings when seek- 
ing much growth while preparing them for exhibition. 

The nature of the supplementary foods to be given 
with the skim milk wilj vary somewhat with the purpose 
for which the calves are reared. But, whatever that end 
may be, it will be found advantageous to add ground 
flax seed, oil meal or flax seed gruel to the milk, as soon 
as the change from whole milk to skim milk begins. In 
this way, fat may be supplied from a cheap source in lieu 
of that removed from the skim milk that is f^d. The 
amount of the meal required at the first may not ex- 
ceed a heaped teaspoonful, but this should be increased 
as the calves are able to take it, but not to the extent of 
inducing too lax a condition of the bowels. The gruel is 



FOODS FROM BY-PRODUCTS 293 

made by soaking flax seed for several hours in a plenti- 
ful supply of water, and then boiling it for one hour. It 
is then fed to the calves in the milk and when the milk 
is cold it will be advantageous to add the gruel while it is 
yet warm. Wlien the calves are grown for veal or baby 
beef, no meal given in addition is more suitable than 
ground corn. Ground corn and ground barley are ex- 
cellent. In such instances the calves may be fed grain 
to the limit of their capacity to consume it as long as 
they are fed milk, and in some instances for a period con- 
siderably longer. 

For sheep, skim milk is not much used nor is it proba- 
ble that it will ever be thus fed to any considerable extent. 
As sheep suckle their lambs, it is not required for such feed- 
ing. But should necessity require it, skim milk fed to lambs 
in the fresh form, will be quite as helpful to them as to 
calves. Such food may aid materially in the development 
of lambs that are being grown for exhibition. 

For szcine, skim milk is of great value. It may be 
fed to them with advantage and profit at all, or nearly 
all stages of growth, and under nearly all conditions of 
feeding. It is equally good for pigs not yet weaned, be- 
tween the weaning and fattening period, and for brood 
sows during pregnancy and while nursing their young. 
It is probably true, that, as with calves, the relative 
profit from feeding it decreases as the birth period is re- 
ceded from, and for the reason that other protein foods 
may be fed, adapted to such feeding, that may be ob- 
tained at less cost, from other sources. For the same 
reason it is also true, that more relative profit is usually 
obtained from feeding skim milk to swine subsequently 
to weaning in moderate rather than in large amounts. 
Even during the fattening period, skim milk is very suit- 
able for feeding along with corn, but it can seldom be 
spared for such feeding. When judiciously fed, the 
feeding value of lOO pounds of skim milk is fully equal 
to that of one bushel of corn. But to obtain such value 



294 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

from it, very moderate amounts should be fed. In certain 
trials made, it has been found that the best results have 
been obtained when not more than 3 pounds of milk were 
fed along with i pound of meal. 

For horses, skim milk is not much used, but m cer- 
tain instances where the supply was plentiful, it has been 
fed to them in considerable quantities with results that 
were satisfactory, even when fed to horses at work of no 
little severity. It has been found highly useful in feed- 
ing foals that are being reared by hand, and also in some 
instances subsequently to the season of weaning. 

The condition in which milk is fed to young animals 
exercises an important influence on the results that fol- 
low from feeding it. The aim should be to feed it as 
nearly as possible at the heat which milk possesses when 
drawn from the cow, that is at a temperature of 100 to 102°. 
While yet sweet it is considered superior for feeding to 
young animals to milk that is sour, but the experiments 
to determine this have not been entirely uniform. That 
milk which is curdled even has considerable feeding value 
when fed to animals well started in growth, cannot be 
gainsaid. The vessels in which it is fed should be kept 
scrupukjusly clean, otherwise they may readily prove 
the medium of conveying bacteria to the animals that 
may prove harmful. 

Buttermilk, when undiluted, has about the same feed- 
ing value as skim milk, viewed from the standpoint of 
the chemist. Equally good results have been obtained 
from feeding it to swine when not of tender age, but it 
has not proved so'generally satisfactory for all kinds of 
feeding as skim milk. It may be fed successfully to calves 
by those who are skilled in such feeding, but it has not 
proved so highly satisfactory as skim milk. Some cau- 
tion is also necessary in feeding it to young pigs and 
to brood sows nursing them. Loss has been incurred by 
such feeding with sufficient frequency to render apparent 
the presence of an element of hazard. It may, however, 



FOODS FROM BY-PRODUCTS 295 

have resulted from feeding the milk when not in the best 
of condition. Buttermilk is frequently diluted with water 
especially at creameries, and when so diluted, its value 
is, of course, proportionately lessened. 

JVhcy is so bulky a food that it ranks relatively low 
in nutrition. Its value for feeding is influenced by the 
source from which it comes, by the class of animals to 
which it is fed, and by its condition at the time of feeding. 
\\'hey obtained from the manufacture of full cream cheese 
has considerably more fat than that obtained from the man- 
ufacture of skim cheese. Certain feeding trials conducted 
have shown that for feeding swine, about 800 pounds ob- 
tained from the former and about 1200 pounds obtained 
from the latter source are equal to 100 pounds of grain. 

The best results have been obtained from feeding whey 
to swine in conjunction with such adjuncts as ground corn, 
wheat, barley or rye. It is less valuable for young animals 
than for those that are older. Calves reared on whey do 
not thrive so well as those reared on skim milk. The whey 
is so bulky and withal so low in nutrition, that calves thus 
reared carry an undue amount of paunch, and are charac- 
terized by a more or less unthrifty condition. Both may, of 
course, be measurably counteracted by feeding a liber.il 
amount of such adjuncts as oil meal and other meal from 
nutritious grains. The outcome is more satisfactory when 
the calves are well started on whole or skim milk or both. 

It is important that whey shall be fed while yet sweet 
and fresh. The acid or semi-acid condition in which it is fre- 
quently fed, especially when returned from cheese factories, 
is in a considerable degree responsible for the unsatisfac- 
tory results obtained from feeding it. The aim should be 
to feed it while yet sweet and care should be taken to scald 
the vessels daily in which to keep the feed. 

Molasses by-product. — Molasses is a product ob- 
tained in the manufacture of sugar from cane and also from 
beets. Formerly much of this valuable feeding product was 
wasted, but during recent years its real worth is coming to 



296 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

be more generally understood. As the sugar beet industry 
increases, so will the use of this by-product in feeding in- 
crease, consequently it would not be possible at the present 
time to forecast the extent to which it may yet be used in 
feeding live stock. Its highest use is found in feeding 
horses at work and in fattening cattle and sheep, but it has 
also proved helpful in feeding in certain combinations for 
milk production. The real value of molasses in feeding is 
greater than chemical analysis assigns to it, since when 
mixed with other foods it adds to the palatability and so in- 
creases consumption. The belief is common among practi- 
cal feeders, and it probably rests on a basis of truth, that 
the free feeding of molasses tends to sterility in males and 
to barrenness in females. It is probable that henceforth 
nearly all the molasses made at sugar beet factories will be 
mixed with the pressed pulp and dried before it is put upon 
the market. The product thus prepared is ready for feed- 
ing by simply mixing it with other foods or adding it to 
them dry, but more commonly with all the water added that 
it will absorb. The objection to feeding a substance so 
sticky as liquid molasses poured over the feed is thus avoid- 
ed, more or less of which adheres to the feed boxes and in 
summer attracts many flies. 

For cattle, molasses is being used in increasing quanti- 
ties. Mixed with dried blood, it aids development in calves 
that are being prepared for the block. They furnish an ex- 
cellent complement to such food as cottonseed meal when 
fed to cattle that are being fattened. The product has been 
much used in preparing animals for exhibition. It has thus 
led to increased consumption of the other food and im- 
proved, the gloss of the coat. It is commonly poured over 
meal or what is better, over meal and cut fodders mixed. 
It is frequently diluted with water before thus mixing it. 
As a food for milk production, it is fed in smaller quanti- 
ties. Dried molasses beet pulp may yet be used extensively 
as a supplementary food for dairy cows, summer and winter. 



FOODS FROM BV-PRODUCTS 297 

Until more light has been obtained, however, as to its innii- 
ence on the breeding properties of animals, it should be fed 
with prudent caution, more especially to young animals in- 
tended for breeding. 

In feeding sheep molasses has not been niucn used, but 
recent experiments at the Michigan experiment station have 
shown that dried molasses beet pulp had a feeding value for 
fattening sheep even higher than that of corn. 

To szvinc, molasses has been fed successfully along 
with skim milk. Its use, however, in feeding swine will 
probably be limited, as an appetizer is less necessary for 
swine than for the other classes of farm animals. 

For horses, molasses is probably more valuable in 
feeding them when at work than in feeding any other class 
of farm animals. Not less than two quarts per day of cane 
molasses may be fed with advantage to work horses and 
mules for prolonged periods. The molasses is diluted with 
three times its bulk of water and poured over the morning 
and evening ration. It is common to feed a little bran along 
with cane molasses to correct a tendency to constipation 
which is said to result from feeding it. It is claimed that 
it is nutritious, healthful and economical. It may yet be- 
come popular to feed it to horses that are being wintered on 
products coarse and cheap, and fed in the cut form. 

Miscellaneous by-products. — Certain by-products 
have been used in feeding which merit some attention, but 
the limited extent to which they are used in this country will 
scarcely justify discussing them at length. For convenience 
of treatment they are grouped as miscellaneous. These in- 
clude tankage, dried blood, dried flesh meal and meat scrap, 
fish scrap, and various kinds of cake. 

Tankage is made from certain waste products of 
slaughter-houses, as meat scraps and fat trimmings. The 
tallow is removed by cooking, and the residue when dried 
is put upon the market as tankage. Tankage varies with 
variations in the waste products which it contains, and also 
with the relative proportions of these, hence the need for 



298 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

careful discrimination as to tiie amount that shall be fed. It 
is used chiefly as a source of protein in feeding swine, more 
especially when the other food consists mainly of corn. For 
such feeding it has been found decidedly profitable even 
when the price of tankage is 30 to 40 per cent greater than 
that of corn. Tankage must be fed with some care as it 
is a highly concentrated food. Usually it is not fed so as to 
make more than 10 per cent of the ration. When feeding 
tankage it should be carefully mixed with the food, thus se- 
curing an even distribution. It must be kept dry or putre- 
faction will set in, which makes it ofifensive to handle and 
harmful to the stock, and it should not be allowed to soak 
very long before it is fed. 

Dried blood is simply blood from slaughtered animals 
from which the water or liquid has been removed. In the 
process of drying enough heat is applied to kill any disease 
germs that may be present. Formerly it was used chiefly 
for fertilizing, but now it is more commonly used in feeding 
calves and swine. As shown in the table it is exceedingly 
rich in protein and the relative digestibility is high. It has 
been found highly useful in feeding calves. To some extent 
it is thought to be a corrective of scours. It may be fed in 
the milk or meal, beginning with say a teaspoonful and 
gradually increasing with the needs of the animals. It has 
also been fed to lambs with profit, the blood to some extent 
taking the place of milk. Its highest use probably is found 
in feeding swine, when fed in conjunction with carbo- 
naceous foods as corn. Swine at three months may be 
given say one tablespoon ful daily, younger animals being 
given a proportionately less quantity. 

Dried flesh meal and meat scrap are more or less anal- 
ogous in their composition. The former, properly ■ speak- 
ing, is composed of the ground flesh of animals after the 
melted fat and moisture have been removed. The latter 
consists of the better grades of slaughter-house waste, 
somewhat similarly prepared. The preparation of flesh meal 



FOODS FROM BV-PRODUCTS 299 

as a commercial food product was first undertaken in Uru- 
guay at the instigation of Caron Liebig, in days when many 
animals were slaughtered simply for their hides. It has 
been used more for feeding swine than any other class of 
live stock, but it has also been fed successfully to rumi- 
nants. By feeding small quantities at first and increasing 
very gradually the amount fed, they will at length take with 
safety as much as 2 or 3 pounds per day. Lambs and 
sheep come to relish it in time, and they thrive on a due pro- 
portion of such food. Mixed with ground grain and made 
into cakes, it is claimed that horses, to which these are fed, 
show increased vigor and nerve power. 

Fish scrap is the residue from fish that are being dried 
or canned after the oil has been expressed and the product 
dried. In some instances it is composed in part or alto- 
gether of fish that are not suitable for human food. It is 
fed as cake and also in the ground form. Because of its 
high fertilizing value, it has been designated fish guano, and 
is not infrequently applied directly to the land for its en- 
richment, but where the facilities are present, it will be 
found profitable to feed it to live stock and then to apply 
the resultant fertilizer to the land. 

Both fish scrap and fish meal are fed to live stock in 
certain of the maritime areas of northwestern Europe. 
Good gains have resulted from feeding 3 to 4 pounds 
per day to mature steers of good size, and the quality of the 
meat was considered good. It is thought that incautious 
feeding to dairy cows will produce undesirable taint in the 
milk and butter but it may certainly be fed in reasonable 
quantities, that is, up to the limit of say 2 pounds per day 
without producing such results. It has been but little used 
in feeding cows in America, but in Norway it is freely used 
for such feeding. Mature sheep have made good use of as 
much as one-half to two-thirds of a pound fed daily along 
with suitable adjuncts. It may be fed more freely to swine 



33 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

than to cattle or sheep. Along the coast of Maine, it is used 
to some extent in feeding sheep, and to a considerable ex- 
tent in feeding swine. 

Sundry meals. — In addition to oil cake and meal and 
cottonseed cake and meal, already discussed (see pp. 275, 
283), are certain other kindred products more or less freely 
fed in certain areas, but not much used as food for stock in 
the United States or Canada. Prominent among these are 
peanut meal, sunflower meal, cocoanut meal and palmnut 
meal. All these are valuable chiefly as a source of protein and 
a means of increasing the amount of the same in a ration. 
As with oil meal and cottonseed meal, all these are valuable 
for milk and meat production, and also in improving the 
tone of the digestion when judiciously fed. But for work- 
ing animals, no kind of oil meal can take the place of grain. 

Peanut meal, made from peanuts after the oil has been 
expressed, is one of the richest among foods in protein. In 
certain trials made it was found to have a feeding value 
fully equal to beans. Owing to the rapid increase in the 
growth of peanuts in the United States, and to the increase 
in the manufacture of oil from the same, peanut meal may 
yet become a food factor of considerable importance for 
live stock in the southern states. 

Sunflower cake and meal are manufactured somewhat 
extensively in Russia, and are prized as food for stock in 
some of the countries of western Europe. As a source of 
oil, however, sunflowers are not grown in the United States 
to any appreciable extent, if indeed at all. Nor is their 
growth for such a use likely to increase in the near future, 
owing to the amount of hand labor called for in harvesting 
the crop. The equivalent in food nutrients can be obtained 
more cheaply in other forms. 

Cocoanut meal, sometimes called cocoa meal, is the res- 
idue from the manufacture of cocoanut oil. This meal has 
been found useful as a concentrate adjunct in feeding cat- 
tle, sheep, swine and horses. The price restricts its use in 
the United States. It is considerably used, however, in 



FOODS FROM BY-PRODUCTS 3OI 

feeding dairy cows in the coast regions of California. It is 
claimed that good, firm butter may be made from it even 
when it is fed with some liberality. It answers well as a 
food adjunct for sheep and swine. 

Palmniit meal is the residue from the manufacture of 
palm oil. The oil palm is extensively cultivated in the West 
Indies and South America, also Africa, but not on the 
North American continent. In some countries of Europe, 
it is extensively used in feeding stock. It has good keeping 
qualities, and is much prized as a food for dairy cows. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
FOOD FROM PASTURES. 

In the United States and Canada tame pastures as a 
source of food for live stock have not, as a rule, been taken 
at their true worth, owing probably to the large area of new 
or rugged lands that have furnished native pasture and to the 
ver}^ large area covered by the ranges of the West. The rich- 
ness of the virgin soils, during the early years of their culti- 
vation, encouraged the growing of crops on them, other than 
grass, to the comparative neglect of the latter. Hence it 
is, that the continent is possessed of but limited areas of per- 
manent mixed grasses, and that but little attention has been 
given relatively to the improvement of pastures of any kind. 
Notwithstanding, food from pastures will always be one of 
the cheapest sources from which it can be obtained. 

The sources of pasture may be said to be fourfold. These 
are: (i) The pastures of the range country; (2) pastures 
on rugged land in areas where tillage is common; (3) per- 
manent pastures natural or made ; (4) temporary pastures. 
Those, from the source last named, are by far the most im- 
portant, not only because of the large areas devoted to 
their growth but because of the renovating influence 
which nearly all of them exert upon the soil, and because 
of the fertility which many of them bring to it. 

The pastures of the western ranges will always be of 
large extent, though more and more circumscribed with the 
passing of the years. That the production of wide areas 
has already been greatly reduced by over depasturing is 
a matter of history. That even range pastures are suscep- 
tible of renovation is also being demonstrated. To discuss 
the methods by which they may be renovated would be 
foreign to this book which treats of foods rather than 
of growing them. 

802 



FOOD FROM PASTURES 303 

Native pastures on rugged or low lands, too low for suc- 
cessful cultivation until drained, are of course indigenous 
to the locality in which they grow. Usually those on forest 
land have come in, as it were, spontaneously on the cutting 
away of the trees. On wet lands they have grown un- 
changed, it may be, for centuries. Kentucky blue grass 
is one of the most common and valuable of the former 
and redtop of the latter. It is possible to transform 
some native pastures by simply sowing the seeds of other 
grasses at an opportune time, and in the case of wet lands 
by changing the conditions as .to the extent of the satura- 
tion. 

Permanent pastures include native pastures both on 
rugged and low lands referred to above, and also pastures 
specially prepared with a view to permanency. These 
may include only a single variety of grass, but usually 
they include a number of varieties of grasses grown together. 
Blue grass in the North and Bermuda grass in the South fur- 
nish instances of the former. More commonly, mixed grasses 
grown with a view to permanency, are sown on lands natur- 
ally moist and favorable to grass production. They are grown 
in combination, the better to furnish grazing at all times 
through the growing season and to furnish more grazing 
than would be obtained from a single variety. 

Temporary pastures include, first pastures grown but 
for one season and frequently as a catch crop, and second, 
those grown for a longer term of years. The former in- 
clude the small cereal grains grown alone or in mixtures ; 
plants of the Brassica family; the sorghums, saccharine, 
and non-saccharine, and certain root crops. The tem- 
porary pastures usually grown for a longer term than 
one year include various grasses and clovers. These may 
be grown singly, but are usually grown in combinations. 
These are sometimes mown one or more years and are 
then grazed one or more years. Those readers who desire 



304 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

further information with reference to pastures are referred 
to the book, "Grasses and How to Grow Them," by the 
author. 

The further discussion of this question will consider: 
(i) The leading grass plants; (2) the leading clover 
plants; (3) plants of the Brassica family used in grazing; 

(4) the saccharine and non-saccharine sorghums, and 

(5) cereals grown to provide grazing, more especially 
winter rye. These will be considered with reference to 
their feeding value and adaptation for grazing. Some- 
thing will be added more or less general in character, 
with reference to the grazing of pastures and their care. 

The leading grasses, — The leading pasture grasses 
are Kentucky blue (Poa pratcnsis), Russian brome {Bro- 
imis inermis), Timothy (Phleum pratensc). Western rye 
grass {Agropyrum caninuni), Redtop (Agrostis vulgaris) 
and in the South, Bermuda grass (Cynodon dacfylon). 
These are probably generally valuable for pasture in the 
order named. 

Kentucky blue, king, among pasture grasses on this 
continent, is characterized by a reasonably early and late 
growth, and by a resting period in midsummer. It is 
probably the finest in its habit of growth and the most 
generally palatable of all the grasses. Although soils that 
have sustained forests have usually the highest relative 
adaptation for growing this grass, it is fast spreading over 
all the areas embraced in the western prairies. Close graz- 
ing tends materially to lessen the production. When done 
in the autumn, it very much tends to retard growth in the 
spring. 

Even thougti grazing should be deferred until the 
autumn, it still furnishes pasture that is much relished, 
owing to the abundance of the fine leaf growth amid 
the relatively light production of matured stems. Such a 
pasture, held in reserve for autumn grazing, will tend to 
prolong materially its season, and to curtail proportionately 
the season for winter feeding. At least two or three 



FOOD FROM PASTURES 303 

seasons are required to bring this grass to a maximum of 
growth; hence it is illy adapted for temporary pastures. 
Owing- to the close, firm nature of the sod which it makes, 
it will better resist injury from severe treading than any 
other valuable grass. 

Russian bromc grass, most highly valuable on prairie 
soils, is coming to be much prized as a pasture grass. Its 
season of active growth is longer probably than that of any 
other grass grown in northern areas. It grows up early in 
the spring and continues to grow until the coming of severe 
frosts. The leaf growth is very vigorous and is relatively 
abundant and no grass is more highly relished by stock. It 
will stand close cropping better than most grasses and 
when once established is not easily injured by treading. 
Its carrying power under favorable conditions is probably 
greater than that of any other grass. Its growth on aver- 
age soils is greatly stimulated by top dressings of barnyard 
manure. 

Timothy, king among the hay grasses, is more 
widely grown on this continent than any other grass, but 
is not so suitable for pasture as the grasses named above, 
as it does not produce so much growth relatively in the 
autumn. In palatability it is average. Nevertheless, it 
has higher adaptation for producing temporary pasture 
than either Kentucky blue or Russian brome grass as it 
can be fully established in a single season though sown 
with a nurse crop. Since maximum growth with timothy 
is reached in a relatively short period, as temporary pas- 
ture it is usually grown with clover. 

The aim should be to graze timothy so that it will 
not throw up any considerable proportion of seed stems. 
Should it do so, cutting them off before the seed matures 
with the mower set high will add to the carrying power 
of the pasture. 

Western rye grass, frequently called slender wheat 
grass, is probably the most hardy among the useful grasses. 
It is grown over wide areas and is preeminently the grass 



306 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

for dry conditions in the semi-arid belt. It tends somewhat 
to grow in bunches and should therefore be sown some- 
what thickly. Although highly. nutritious, it is not quite so 
mtich relished as some of the other grasses. Growth is 
chiefly made in the early part of the season. If allowed 
to throw up stems, these quickly become woody and are 
not eaten with much relish. 

Redtop, valuable both as a hay and pasture plant, is 
more grown for pasture in some of the central and southern 
states than in those north. Though not so valuable in the 
Gulf states as Bermuda grass, it is grown over wider areas 
much further north than would be suitable for that grass. In 
northern areas it is also grown for pasture, but usually in 
combination with other grasses. It is permanent and endur- 
ing and eventually makes a good sod, but it starts 
a little slowly in the spring and also after it has been 
mown. In midsummer it loses much in palatability. In 
the states that circle around Tennessee and Kentucky, and 
also in other areas, it is much esteemed for winter 
grazing when the grazing has not been close during the 
summer and autumn. 

Bennnda grass is a creeping perennial, the plants 
from which multiply through underground rootstocks and 
also through the rooting of the creeping stems where the 
nodes come in contact with the soil. Because of this 
habit of growth, new pastures are usually obtained through 
planting the stems and rootstems at certain intervals. It 
is strictly a summer grass and makes all its growth vir- 
tually in the portion of the year when frosts are absent. 
It is very enduring and stands grazing well, but it is diffi- 
cult to completely remove it from the soil. It has much 
power to produce, even on worn soils. Reasonably close 
grazing during the season of growth is to be commended, 
as even slight frosts injure the palatability of the grass. 

Chief among the other grasses, useful in providing 
pasture under American conditions, are Orchard grass 
(Dactylis glomerata), Meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis), 



FOOD FROM PASTURES 307 

and Tall Oat grass {Arrhenatherum avenaceum), but these 
are not so extensively grown as the former. 

Orchard grass grows best in various centers all across 
the continent between parallels 35° and 45° north latitude. 
It is a leafy grass and a vigorous grower on good soils, 
and it will endure shade better than other grasses. It has 
the habit of growing in tussocks which may be modified 
by growing it with blue grass. It is not so palatable as blue 
grass, but is more productive. In the spring the grazing 
should be measurably close to keep the seed stems in check. 
The autumn growth is usually abundant and may be made 
to furnish much grazing for winter where the climates 
are reasonably mild. 

Meadozv fescue is hardy, palatable and nutritious. It 
has been grown in various centers widely distant from one 
another. It is slow in becoming established so as to pro- 
duce a maximum amount of pasture; hence it is better 
suited for permanent than for temporary pastures. It 
grows better than blue grass in summer and has more 
power also to make growth in the cool and cold weather 
of autumn. It is prized for winter grazing in some of the 
Middle Atlantic states. 

Tall Oat grass will grow nofth, south, east or west, 
but in climates not really severe it has proved of highest 
value. It comes up very early in the spring, grows quickly 
and is persistent in growth. The foliage is abundant but 
coarse and, owing to a bitter property which it possesses, is 
not so much relished as several other grasses. It should 
be kept from throwing up seed stems, which of course, are 
less palatatable even than the leaves. 

- Three other grasses are capable of providing much 
pasture, but they are so difficult of eradication that it is 
at least questionable if ever they should be sown under 
arable conditions. These are Quack grass {Agropyrum re- 
pens), Johnson grass {Sorghum halpcnse), and Crab 
grass {Panicum sanguinalis). 



308 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Quack grass is in a sense a scourge to the farmers, 
especially those whose lands, naturally rich and friable, are 
infested by it, owing to the great labor involved in cleaning 
it out of the land. Notwithstanding, when properly man- 
aged, it will probably furnish more grazing during the sea- 
son than any other grass grown in the locality. In semi- 
arid regions this grass may have a useful mission. It mul- 
tiplies chiefly by means of the creeping rootstocks which it 
sends out in great numbers in the soil. 

Johnson grass, which grows luxuriantly in the south- 
ern states, cannot endure the cold winters of the North. 
When grazed it should be eaten down before the heads are 
formed. Heavy pasturing has the effect of injuring sub- 
sequent growth for a time. It is a better hay than a pas- 
ture crop. It is exceedingly difficult of eradication. 

Crab grass is an annual which infests southern soils. 
It springs up luxuriantly in grain fields from which crops 
have been removed.^ The grazing which it thus furnishes 
is frequently considerable. This weed-like grass may be 
o-rown, it is said, in alternation with bur clover, the former 
furnishing grazing in winter and the latter in summer. The 
ground is simply plowed and harrowed between the crops, 
where both have obtained a foothold. 

The leading clovers. — The leading clovers for pasture 
are the Common or Medium Red (Trifolium pratense), the 
Mammoth [Trifolium maximum), the Alsike {Trifolium 
hyhridum), the White {Trifolium rep ens) and Alfalfa 
(Medicago satii'a). These are probably valuable for pas- 
ture in the order named. 

Common Red .clover, is now grown in portions of 
almost every state in the Union. The great clover belt, 
however, is in the Upper Mississippi valley, and in the 
higher mountain states that lie to the west. This plant, 
biennial or perennial according to the soil and climatic 
conditions under which it is produced, grows during nearly 
the entire growing season. The growth is more vigorous 
and persistent when the plants are not allowed to go to 



FOOD FROM PASTURES 3O9 

seed, and they will also live for a longer period. No other 
variety of clover furnishes so much pasture in one season, 
and none is so highly palatable. 

When clover is very rank and succulent, cattle and 
sheep must be grazed on it with caution, especially at 
first, otherwise loss may result from bloating. This danger 
is lessened, ( i ) by giving the animals dry food before 
turning them on the clover to graze; (2) by leaving them 
on the clover subsequently where this is practicable; (3) 
by giving them access to some dry food all the while and 
(4) by so arranging that some kind of grass will be pres- 
ent in the clover in that degree that will reduce the danger 
incurred to a minimum. Where clover is not grazed too 
closely in the autumn, on some soils it reseeds itself and 
thus perpetuates its growth. 

Mammoth cloz'cr will grow virtually in about the same 
areas as the Common Red variety. The habit of growth, 
however, in the two, differs considerably. The Mammoth 
requires several weeks longer to reach a maximum of 
growth, does not grow so rapidly after midsummer, and is 
coarser in stem than the former. The danger to cattle 
and sheep from bloat is much the same as with the Com- 
mon Red. Close pasturing in the late autumn is usually 
more or less harmful to all clovers, but not equally so under 
all conditions. W'here seed is much grown from either the 
Common Red or Mammoth clovers, they are frequently 
grazed closely for a time after growth has begun. Such 
grazing is not only grateful to the stock, but it has been 
found favorable to abundant seed production. 

Alsike clover is perennial in its growth and increas- 
ingly so as the conditions become more favorable. Jt 
grows best in moist soils. It is even more hardy than the 
Common Red and is fully as wide in its distribution. 
Though of finer leaf growth than the Common Red, it is 
not more palatable, takes longer to attain a maximum of 
growth, and makes less growth relatively late in the season. 



3IO FEEDING FAKxM ANIMALS 

Small White clover has a wider distribution than any 
other variety. It seldom requires resovving on soils where 
it has once grown unless where sown for seed production. 
It is seldom grown for any other purpose than to pro- 
vide pasture. Spontaneously as it were, it grows along 
with blue grass and some other grasses, and is most in evi- 
dence in moist seasons. It is reasonably palatable, but 
less so probably than the clovers referred to above, 
although of liner growth, and it is charged with inducing 
slobbering in horses that graze upon it in the early summer. 
This useful and harmless weed-like plant considerably in- 
creases the producing capacity of pastures in which it 
grows. 

Alfalfa grows on certain soils in nearly all the states 
and in nearly all the provinces of Canada. It is rather a 
hay than a pasture plant as it does not stand grazing well, 
and very frequently the grazing of cattle and sheep upon 
it is attended with loss. The danger from bloat is not 
present when it is grazed with swine and horses. When 
grown for grazing the aim should be to grow some grass 
along with it as Orchard grass or Russian brome, or to 
grow it as a factor of a pasture more or less permanent. 
The grazing of alfalfa usually shortens its life term, though 
the reverse is frequently true of clover. 

The chief of the clovers of less importance in pro- 
viding grazing than those referred to above, are Crimson 
clover, {Trifolhim incarnatum) , Japan clover {Lcspcdcza 
striata) and Bur clover (Medicago maculata). Sainfoin 
(Onobrychis satira) may prove highly valuable in fur- 
nishing pasture, but it has not been grown on areas of any 
considerable extent in this country. 

Crimson clover, usually sown in the summer or early 
autumn is grown chiefly in the Central Atlantic states and 
in some states westward and southward from these. This 
plant, which lives but one year, makes much and quick 
growth under congenial conditions, but it cannot endure 
severe winters unless protected by snow. It may be 



FOOD FROM PASTURES 3II 

grown alone or along with other winter crops that will 
provide grazing, as vetches or rye. It may be grazed in 
the autumn or spring or at both seasons but close grazing 
in the autumn frequently endangers the life of the plants. 
They furnish grazing very early in the spring. Crimson 
clover is more grown as a fertilizer than as a pasture. 

Japan clover is grown chiefly in the southern states. 
It is an annual but, like White clover, it has much power 
to reseed itself, and thus to remain in soil where it has once 
been grown. It is much prized as a pasture plant in 
considerable areas of the South, whether grown alone or 
in yearly alternation along with such plants as turf oats 
and sand vetches. The oats and vetches furnish spring 
grazing and the Japan clover grazing in the summer and 
early autumn. Stock do not take kindly to it at first, but 
soon become fond of it. If allowed to form seed before 
the grazing begins, it is less relished than if grazed earlier. 
It starts late in the spring and is easily injured by autumn 
frosts. 

Bur clover, like Japan clover, is grown only in the 
South. Unlike Japan clover, which furnishes grazing in 
the summer and early autumn. Bur clover furnishes the 
same in the winter and early spring. It has sometimes 
been grown for successive years in alternation with Crab 
grass, the latter being used for hay or pasture. Both 
have much power to reseed themselves. Bur clover is 
not highly palatable, but in time animals become accus- 
tomed to it. It is most relished when the plants are 
young. 

Plants of the Brassica family. — The most important 
of these, beyond all comparison, grown for pasture in 
America, is the Dwarf Essex rape plant. To a limited 
extent kale is grown for the same purpose especially on 
the slopes of western Oregon and Washington, beside 
the Pacific. Cabbage is also grown to a very limited ex- 
tent to provide grazing for sheep. When fed to other 
stock, it is more as soiling food than as grazing. 



312 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Dwarf Essex rape, grown on rich soils in all the states 
and in all the provinces of Canada, is sown alone, broad- 
cast, or in rows and cultivated, along with the small cereal 
grains, or in the last cultivation given to corn. After the 
grain and corn respectively are harvested, the rape pro- 
vides abundant food according to the soil. It may be 
grazed by any kind of stock, except cows in milk, and these 
also may be grazed upon it for a short time after one or 
both daily milkings, but if allowed to remain on it long, the 
milk will be tainted. The plants may be grazed as soon as 
they will furnish much feed and will grow again, but the 
largest amount of grazing will be obtained, as a rule, 
when growth in the plants is nearly completed before the 
pasturing begins. 

The rape plant is greatly relished by cattle, sheep, 
swine and horses. It is excellent for producing growth, 
fat, and also milk. These properties, along with its pro- 
ductiveness and wide adaptation, make it the most valuable 
fodder plant that has come into general use in this country 
during recent years. It furnishes excellent grazing for 
calves and older cattle, but the latter, when feeding on it, 
cause considerable waste through treading down the 
plants. For fattening sheep, no grazing is equal to it. It 
may be made to furnish good grazing for swine through 
all the growing season, except during the first six or eight 
weeks of growth subsequently to the opening of spring. 
Horses are fond of rape but, like heavy cattle, they injure 
it by treading. It furnishes food too succulent for horses 
at work. 

Cattle or sheep should never be turned in to graze 
on rape while hungry, lest they should take harm through 
bloating. The aim should be, when either are grazed 
on it, to have a well-grown pasture at all times accessible, 
as this supplemented by a plentiful supply of salt, tends 
materially to prevent and also to lessen scouring. When 



FOOD FROM PASTURES 3I3 

once turned into graze, it is the common practice with many 
not to hinder freedom of access to the rape again until it is 
all grazed down. 

Grain may be fed to cattle or sheep on rape, but such 
feeding is not indispensable with them as it is with swine 
that are being grazed on it. The grazing may be continued 
until the coming of hard frost, but in some instances 
digestive troubles arise from grazing sheep in the early 
morning on rape covered with white rime. Feeding them 
on grain previously is a safeguard. 

Kale is frequently grazed in the spring in latitudes 
with mild winters, the kale having been started the previous 
autumn. The grazing of cabbage by sheep may begin as 
soon as growth is completed, and may continue later 
.than in the case of rape. The amount of good grazing that 
may thus be furnished by an acre of cabbage is very large. 

The saccharine and non-saccharine sorghums. — In 
some localities the saccharine and non-saccharine sorghums 
are frequently used to provide grazing, more especially in 
areas where, because of drouth or for other reasons, cul- 
tivated pastures are not so productive. Sorghums may be 
grown for pasture wherever corn can be successfully grown, 
but the non-saccharine sorghums, including Kafir corn, 
Jerusalem corn, IMilo maize and Durra, can only be grown 
where the summer temperatures are warmer than those 
which prevail in the northern states and Canada. Pearl 
millet is somewhat akin to these in its adaptation and also 
in its habits of growth. 

When grazed by cattle, the grazing should be deferred 
until the plants are old enough so as not to pull out of 
the ground while being grazed. The aim should be to 
keep them grazed down so closely that the grazing will 
not be greatly injured by the animals. This result is sure 
to follow when the stalks become so far advanced that 
they break down when the cattle walk through them. Such 
grazing is not so palatable as some kinds of grass, and 
yet cattle are fond of it. In some instances serious loss 



314 FEKDING FARM ANIMALS 

has occurred from grazing both saccharine and non-sac- 
charine sorghum by cattle. This it is thought is due to the 
presence of a poisonous principle known as prussic acid, 
which collects in the plants usually, if not always, when 
the growth has been checked by drouth. These results, in 
some instances serious, are more frequent when grazing 
down the second growth but they are not entirely confined 
to such grazing. 

Sheep are relatively better adapted than cattle to such 
grazing. With sheep the grazing may begin at an earlier 
age. They may be so grazed that but little waste will follow. 
None of the sorghums are so much relished by sheep as 
rape or certain of the grasses. Nor do they produce so 
much increase in the animals. But they furnish a large 
amount of grazing relatively in proportion to the area 
grazed. 

In the central Mississippi states, these plants are fre- 
quently grazed by swine. Some writers praise them for 
such a use, but it is probably true, that, as with sheep, the 
grazing is not so completely satisfactory as that furnished 
by alfalfa, clover, rape and certain of the cereals, but such 
grazing may be furnished quickly in warm, dry weather 

These plants may also be grazed by horses and mules 
but to such grazing there is the objection that the plants 
may be injured by treading. No instances of loss have been 
reported from grazing horses, sheep or swine upon the 
sorghums. 

Corn may be grazed when sown on the broadcast plan, 
but when so grown it is best grazed by sheep ; larger ani- 
mals injure it much l^y treading and breaking it down. If 
sheep are turned in to graze upon it when it is about a foot 
high or even higher, they will get much grazing from it, 
but after it has reached the first joint it will not grow up 
again when grazed down. In some localities Squaw corn or 
some other small variety is grown and fed oflf by sheep or 
swine. In the northwestern states this method of fattening 
sheep and swine, especially the former, is attaining some 



FOOD FROM PASTURES 315 

popularity. Rape sown along with the corn at the last 
cultivation given to it improves the grazing. 

Pasture from the small cereals. — Pasture is frequently 
obtained from the small cereals sown singly or in combina- 
tion. Of these winter rye is more commonly sown alone, 
and because of its importance in grazing will be discussed 
separately. In some instances winter wheat is grazed in 
the winter season with benefit to both the stock and wheai. 
Such crops as winter vetches may also be sown alone in the 
early autumn to provide early spring grazing for all classes 
of farm stock. But such grazing, even under favorable con- 
ditions, must be conducted with a prudent caution or the 
grazing may injure the grain. On stifif clays it cannot be 
done at all. The same is true of the grazing of spring-sown 
crops by sheep in the spring on the northwestern prairies. 
In seasons unusually favorable to growth, such grazing 
benefits the crop but if it is continued too long it will lessen 
yields. 

On the western and northwestern prairies spring grains 
are sometimes sown in combination to provide grazing when 
grass pastures are not available. The choice of varieties 
may depend somewhat on relative cheapness. A mixture, 
however, provides more grazing than a single grain, and 
also tends more or less to prolong the grazing. These 
grains sown thickly and in the usual way, are ready to 
graze as soon as the grazing is abundant. Such pastures 
have highest adaptation for milk production, owing to 
their succulence. They should be grazed so closely that no 
stems can be formed, otherwise the grazing will be lessened 
and also the palatability. Sowing the seeds of grasses and 
clovers with these mixtures still farther prolongs the graz- 
ing. 

Pastures may be grown from the small cereals for sheep 
singly or in combination, and in a succession that may be 
made to cover the entire season of growth. When sown 
alone these pastures may consist of winter rye, winter 
vetches and winter oats where the winters are not too 



3l6 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

severe. When sown in combination, the mixtures may 
consist of winter rye or turf oats and sand vetches, of peas 
and oats, and of several of the small grains sown together. 

The winter crops are of course sown in the autumn 
and the other crops in the spring. These may be sown in 
various alternations with each other and also with corn, 
sorghum and rape, more especially the latter. Thus sown, 
at least two crops of grazing per year may be grown on the 
same land. The grazing should begin reasonably early, on 
the principle that sheep prefer succulent grazing. It should 
not be deferred so long that the pasture will be seriously 
harmed from the tramping while being grazed. Cropping 
off the plants thus early tends to increase the stooling. 

The small cereals more commonly grown to provide 
grazing for swine, are winter rye, barley, oats, peas and 
vetches. These are sown singly or in mixtures. The more 
common of the mixtures are, barley and oats and rye and 
winter vetches. The grazing of these plants should begin 
while they are still young, at least before the time of 
forming the seed bearing stems, except in the case of peas. 
These are allowed to near maturity before being grazed. 
The grazing of winter rye and barley is also sometimes 
carried into the maturing stages of the grain, but such 
grazing can scarcely be said to be entirely satisfactory in 
all instances. 

Winter rye for pasture. — Winter rye is, beyond all 
comparison, the most valuable of the small cereals in fur- 
nishing pasture, as it can be grown in almost every part of 
the United States and Canada. It is the hardiest of the 
cereals, will grow on poor soils, comes earUest in the 
spring and may under many conditions, be made to fur- 
nish grazing both in the autumn and spring. But when 
sown quite early in the autumn, under some conditions, 
it becomes affected with leaf rust, and when sown too late, 
where the winter climate is rigorous, the plants become so 
weakened frequently, that the growth in spring is not of 
much value. Notwithstanding, under all conditions where 



FOOD FROM PASTURES 317 

winter rye is sown for pasture in the autumn, it is possible 
to obtain some kind of a crop after the rye the following 
season. 

The practice of sowing winter rye in the spring to pro 
vide grazing is not to be commended, but it is admissible 
when the seeds of the grasses and clovers are sown at the 
same time with a view to prolong the grazing. Winter rye 
may be grazed by horses, mules, cattle of all kinds and ages, 
and sheep and swine. It is made to supply pasture to a much 
greater extent than any other cereal when this is short from 
other sources. 

Although rye is frequently grazed in the autumn, the 
results are variable. In some instances close autumn graz- 
ing tends to weaken growth in the spring ; in others, it does 
not seem to harm it. The difference may arise from a dif- 
ference in winter temperatures. When sown very early, it is 
safer to pasture the rye in the fall. When sown later, but 
not in time to make too advanced a growth in the autumn, 
more grazing will usually be obtained in the spring, if the 
rye is not grazed in the fall. 

Grazing in the spring should begin as soon as growth 
has really started. The aim should be to graze the rye some- 
what closely, for if the plants are allowed to form heads, the 
grazing becomes woody and distasteful to live stock. Rye 
will furnish grazing for a much longer period when eaten 
closely than if not so grazed. In many instances the crop 
is grazed for a time in the spring, and the stock are then 
removed so as to allow the plants to mature a crop. Good 
crops of grain are thus frequently obtained when the graz- 
ing is not carried too far. 

When cows in milk are grazed on winter rye and the 
grazing is abundant, the milk will be possessed of an odor 
and taste more or less offensive. This may be avoided by 
only allowing cows to graze on the rye for a short period 
after the time for milking. Owing to the succulence of 
young rye and to its tendency to relax the bowels, it is a 
good plan to feed more or less of grain, when practicable, 



3I« FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

to animals that graze upon it. It furnishes excellent grazing 
in the early spring for ewes that are nursing lambs and also 
for brood sows nursing their young. 

The grazing of pastures. — The grazing of pastures 
should not begin as a rule vmtil pasturing can be done with- 
out poaching the land, until the grass or other crop has made 
sufficient growth to meet the needs of the animals without 
an excess of expended energy in supplying the same, and 
until it has parted with an excess of succulence. 

The injury from poaching is found, in part, in making 
the surface uneven, in part, in destroying some of the plants 
by pushing them down into the soil, and in part, in the ex- 
cessive hardening of the soil after the excess of moisture 
has left it for the time being. Clay soils suffer the most 
from poaching and they suffer increasingly with the lack 
of firmness in the sod, with increase in the excess of mois- 
ture in the soil, with increase in the clay content in the 
same, and with increase in the poaching. 

All excess of energy expended by animals in supplying 
their needs when grazing means loss. It means the utiliza- 
tion of unnecessary energy to enable the animal to graze. 
The expenditure of energy in excess of what may be nec- 
essary to keep the animal in good health while grazing is ex- 
cessive, and should be avoided. It should be avoided for the 
further reason, that it involves unnecessary injury through 
needless treading on the plants. 

Grass or other grazing is possessed of an excess of suc- 
culence when it induces a condition of the bowels so lax as 
to hinder increase in whole or in part. That excess of succu- 
lence varies in plants themselves with the advancement of 
the same in growth, and with the character of the season. 
Grain pastures would seem to be more succulent when quite 
young as a rule than grass pastures. Pastures that may phy- 
sic animals at an early stage to the extent of preventing all 
increase, may lead to rapid increase at a later stage of devel- 
opment by which time they have parted with much of their 



FOOD FROM PASTURES 3I>) 

succulence. Some seasons, pastures have much more succu- 
lence than in other seasons, owing to a difference in the 
amount of rainfall. The greater the degree of moisture in 
the air also, the more relatively of succuknce will the 
pastures possess 

Excess of succulence, however, is not to be measured 
alone by the degree of the succulence. That degree of suc- 
culence which removes an unduly dry condition from the 
faeces, is not excessive or harmful, but helpful. The trained 
eye quickly detects what is correct or otherwise in such con- 
dition. Succulence is excessive when it leads to a condition 
of the bowels so lax as to hinder production in milk, meat or 
labor. The degree of succulence in pastures that would be 
best suited for milk production would be excessive for meat 
production, and that which is best suited for meat production 
may be excessive for the best results from labor,. This ex- 
plains in part at least why summer pastures, green and suc- 
culent, are best suited to the needs of milch cows, and why, 
when they become unduly dry, supplementary succulent food 
is necessary in order to properly maintain the milk flow. It 
explains why pastures well matured make beef much more 
quickly than pastures less matured and more succulent. It 
also throws light upon the necessity for feeding reasonabl" 
dry food to horses at hard labor. 

The aim should be not to graze pastures close at any sea- 
son of the year, for the reason, first, that when thus grazed, 
growth is hindered by reducing too much the breathing ca- 
pacity of the plant through the leaves, and by removing the 
shade and protection furnished to the roots by the grass 
blades. When this covering is removed, the sapping of 
moisture is so far accelerated by the sun and wind. This 
loss of moisture increases relatively with increase in dry- 
ness of the climate. There is also loss of energy in search- 
ing for food by animals that are being oastured in order to 
supply their needs 

Of course, the closeness of the grazing cannot always 
be regulated. When pasture is abundant, animals will 



320 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

sometimes graze close where growth is least luxuriant, be- 
cause the pasture there is less coarse than in other parts 
and also probably sweeter, while they will not graze at all,, 
or but little, on the ranker portions of the grass. Sheep es- 
pecially, are much prone to graze thus. Notwithstanding, 
while the less productive portions are being grazed, grass is 
accumulating in the ungrazed portions of the fields, and this 
will be consumed readily when that season comes, which it 
usually does every year, when the close grazed portions of 
the field have practically ceased to produce grazing. 

In the autumn, the aim should be to avoid grazing so 
close that fields will be left without any winter protection. 
This, of course, is more important in .climates where the 
frost is intense, where the fields are much swept with bleak 
winds when bare, and where the snowfall is light. When 
the grass covering has been entirely removed in the fall, 
the blades are slow in starting in the spring, more espe- 
cially where frosts are intense, and the early grazing is less 
suitable to the needs of plants than it would otherwise be. 
(See p. 319.) There are instances, however, in which want 
of grazing would result in the smothering of the plants 
to their complete destruction, especially where the snowfall 
is heavy, and there are other instances where the unre- 
moved covering would be so much, that it would check the 
growth of the grass in spring even though it should not 
be killed by the covering. 

Whether dififerent classes of animals should be grazed 
together on the same pasture is a disputed question. Many 
are opposed to it. Notwithstanding, it would seem to be 
a question largely ot conditions. When the pastures are not 
abundant sheep, for instance, should not graze with cattle. 
Because of their habit of close cropping, they will get the 
lion's share of the pasture, and through their habit of tread- 
ing much while grazing, would render the grass more dis- 
tasteful to the cattle. But when the pasture is abundant 
through all the season, grazing different classes of animals 
together is probably an advantage, as one class from 



FOOD FROM PASTURES 321 

choice eats portions that the other class will reject. A few 
sheep on such a pasture will aid materially in checking the 
growth of weeds, and a few goats in checking the growth 
of bushes, should they be present. 

The care of pastures. — The care of pastures has ref- 
erence : (i) To the extent of the depasturing; (2) to pro- 
tection from weeds; (3) to improvement by drainage; (4) 
to improvement by fertilization ; ( 5 ) to improvement by a 
renewal of the grasses. Due attention to these matters will 
greatly increase the carrying power of pastures. Very fre- 
quently pastures are kept eaten down too bare. Usually the 
power of plants to grow for the time being is crippled in 
proportion as the top growth is removed and in proportion 
to the earliness of such removal. Surface evaporation is 
always more rapid in proportion as the covering is removed 
from the soil, whether 'that covering consists of living or 
dead vegetation. Close grazing injures growth because it 
makes unnececsary treading by the hoofs of the animals 
grazing, and when winter comes, it injures through undue 
exposure of the vital power of the plants. It is perhaps 
an open question whether close grazing injures most 
the animals that graze or the pastures that they graze upon. 
If pastures must be grazed closely, such grazing should 
take place in the spring rather than in the autumn, as then 
the fields so grazed may reclothe themselves before the 
advent of winter. 

Weeds injure pastures by drawing on their fertility for 
no useful end, by excessive shading and by crowding. 
Even bushes and shrubs become weeds in pastures when 
they hinder the growth of grass. Weeds that grow burs 
which adhere to stock are especially annoying. These evils 
may be mitigated by the free use of the field mower and in 
some instances of the scythe and spud. Annuals and bi- 
ennials may thus be prevented from going to seed, and in 
some instances perennials may be thus destroyed, but not 
in all. Dense rooted grasses like Kentucky blue and Rus- 
sian brome will crowd out many kinds of weeds through 
the density of their root growth. 



2^22 fki:dixg farm animals 

The possible improvement of pastures by means of 
drainage is only limited by the opportunity furnished for 
making the drainage complete. The following are some of 
the benefits that accrue from it : ( i ) Drainage alone may 
completely change the character of the production, the 
change being from grass less valuable to that more valu- 
able, because of increased growth, higher palatability and 
superior nutrition; (2) it may prolong the season of pas- 
turing more or less each year; (3} the harbor for parasites, 
so prejudicial to the sheep industry where stagnant water 
abounds is so far removed; (4) the injury from poaching 
is reduced, if not entirely obviated. The methods of drain- 
ing will not be discussed here, but it should be added that 
the benefits accruing from draining the wet places in pas- 
tures are usually far beyond the cost of the work. 

But little attention has been given to the improvement 
of pastures on this continent through the medium of ferti- 
lization, owing largely, it would seem, to an extensively pre- 
vailing idea that more profit will result from applying fer- 
tilizer to other crops. The idea would not seem to be well 
grounded, especially where temporary pastures are grown. 
Dressings of farmyard manures and also of commercial 
fertilizers stimulate growth in the roots as well as in the 
leaves and stems, consequently when the pastures are bro- 
ken up the humus in the soil is proportionately increased. 
Farmyard manures also act as a mulch, and the fresher and 
more bulky the manure and the more of it applied up to a 
certain limit, the more beneficial will be the result to the 
pasture. A threefold benefit results from applying farmyard 
manure thus. The wisdom of aiming to apply as large a 
proportion of the fertilizer as can be made available to 
pastures is to be commended. 

Grasses may in many instances be renewed in pastures 
without breaking them up and resowing. This question is 
discussed in the book on "Grasses" by the author (p. 392), 
to which the reader is referred 



CHAPTER XV. 
FOOD FROM FIELD ROOTS AND TUBERS. 

Field roots are distinguished from tubers first, in pro- 
ducing but one bulb or root, whereas tubers produce sev- 
eral ; second, in usually making much of the growth above 
ground, whereas tubers grow wholly under the soil ; and 
third, in larger average production than can be obtained 
from tubers. They also differ in chemical composition. 
Roots are relatively richer in protein and tubers in starch, 
and the starch in the two is found under different condi- 
tions. 

The vaUic of field roots and tubers in furnishing food 
for live stock has not been appreciated in the past by the 
growers of live stock in the United States as it has been by 
the growers of the same in Great Britain and Canada. The 
greater amount of hand labor required in growing them as 
compared with corn, has led to the centering of attention on 
the growing of corn. Nevertheless, the fact remains, that 
American supremacy in growing live stock is largely de- 
pendent on the extent to which field roots shall be fed to 
them while in process of development. No other food ad- 
junct has yet been found that will equal field roots in secur- 
ing the development of large frames and in covering them 
abundantly with fleshy tissue. The American exhibitor of 
cattle and sheep must continue to import his leading prize 
winners from Great Britain and Canada until he feeds his 
young animals more largely on field roots. 

Those who have investigated with reference to the 
comparative cost of nutrients in corn and field roots re- 
spectively, have concluded, and correctly, that nutrients in 
corn can be grown in greater quantity and much more 
cheaply under average conditions than in field roots. But 
when the conclusion is reached, that in consequence, the net 

323 



324 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

returns from an acre of field roots cannot be made as large 
relatively or as profitable as those from an acre of corn 
under some conditions of growth, that conclusion may be 
safely challenged. The favorable influence that the moder- 
ate or even light feeding of field roots exercises on the di- 
gestion of the animals (see p. 51), gives field roots a value 
far in excess of the nutrients which they contain. 

The following conclusions with reference to the rela- 
tive value of these and of corn will probably be found cor- 
rect: (i) That in the main, under United States condi- 
tions, corn should be made the leading food crop for live 
stock rather than roots, but in some parts of Canada, be- 
cause of climatic conditions, the reverse should be true. (2) 
That corn has much higher adaptation for fattening than 
field roots, hence they should be fed sparingly if fed at all 
to animals being fattened. (3) That field roots are so well 
adapted to milk production that, under many conditions, 
they may be fed for such a use, even in conjunction with 
corn and more especially with dry corn fodder. (4) That 
field roots have higher adaptation for young animals than 
corn, and that in consequence, the farmer should aim to 
provide young animals with such food even in areas well 
suited to the growing of corn. 

The root crops discussed are: (i) Mangels, (2) sugar 
beets, (3) rutabagas and turnips and (4) carrots. The tu- 
bers dwelt upon are : (i) Irish potatoes, (2) sweet pota- 
toes, (3) artichokes and (4) cassava. The miscellaneous 
crops included in the discussion are: (i) Cabbage, (2) 
pumpkins, (3) squash and (4) peanuts. The tops of roots 
and tubers are also considered with reference to their feed- 
ing value. 

Mangels. — Mangels may be successfully grown in 
some portion of every state in the Union and of every 
province of Canada. Although they grow best where the 
temperatures are moderate and the climate is reasonably 
moist, they will stand more heat and drought than rutabagas 
or turnips. The yields ordinarily run all the way from ten 



FOOD FROM FIELD ROOTS AND TUBERS 325 

to 20 tons an acre, the average under American conditions 
being about 15 tons, but far higher yields are easily attain- 
able. The yields are usually higher than those of sugar 
beets and the labor of growing them is much less. IMangels, 
when grown, are easily injured by frost, even before they 
are harvested. The longer that mangels can be kept, the 
more they improve for feeding. This at least is true of them 
for several months subsequent to maturity, and it results 
from chemical changes which take place in the roots. If fed 
in large quantities for some weeks subsequently to maturity, 
they tend to produce scouring. The highest use of mangels 
when fed to stock, is to promote growth in young animals 
and to stimulate milk production. As with all classes of field 
roots, mangels have a higher feeding value than chemistry 
assigns to them, especially when fed in small quantities. 
More commonly they are sliced or pulped before being fed, 
except when feeding them to swine. 

For cattle of all classes, when on dry food, mangels arc 
excellent and more especially when much of the food fed is 
carbonaceous, as in the case of corn. A few pounds fed daily 
to calves before and subsequently to weaning, and to grow- 
ing cattle in winter, will tend to promote increase in frame 
and muscle in a marked degree. Usually not more than 20 
to 30 pounds per day are fed to cows giving milk, but larger 
amounts may be fed without harm. They do not taint the 
milk, hence they are preferred to rutabagas and turnips for 
milch cows. The quantities named will also be suitable for 
animals that are being fattened under ordinary conditions in 
America, although as much as 100 pounds daily per animal 
is sometimes fed to cattle that are being fattened in Great 
Britain. 

For sheep, mangels are nearly or quite as valuable 
relatively as in feeding cattle. Finely sliced, they are much 
relished by lambs. Two to four pounds a day fed to breed- 
ing ewes previous to lambing and larger amounts subse- 
quently, prove very helpful to them. As much as 20 pounds 
per day is in some instances fed to large sheep that are be- 



326 FEEDINc; FARM ANIMALS 

ing fattened but such feeding would seem excessive in cold 
climates and vmder American conditions would prove costly. 
Even when fed to breeding ewes in very large quantities, 
there is some hazard that urinary troubles may follow, and 
such hazard is increased in the case of rams. 

For szvinc of all ages, mangels may usually be fed with 
profit, when not getting other succulent food. They are 
too bulky for feeding in large quantities to young swine or 
to swine that are being fattened, but to brood sows in win- 
ter they may be fed so freely as to form the bulk of the ra- 
tion. When swine are first put upon a ration of new corn, 
a few pounds of mangels daily help to balance the ration. 
The Michigan experiment station has demonstrated the 
feasibility of harvesting mangels with swine so as to cheap- 
en materially the cost of production. The swine are given 
grain in addition. The amount required is less than 50 per 
cent of what would otherwise be needed during the first 
part of the grazing, but toward its close, more grain would 
be required to properly finish the swine. Under all condi- 
tions of forced feeding or fattening with grain, a pound or 
two or even more of mangels fed daily will aid in regulat- 
ing the digestion. Swine feeding after cattle that are being 
fed corn heavily, will be more healthy and thrifty if given 
nangels in addition, and will also withstand a visitation of 
hog cholera better than those not so fed. Swine are more 
fond of mangels than of rutabagas, turnips or carrots. 

To horses, mangels are not much fed under American 
conditions, but there are no good reasons for not feeding 
them more or less when obtainable. Moderate amounts 
will aid in keeping the digestion of horses in tone as well as 
in the case of other stock. A few pounds fed daily 
with dry food will materially aid in giving draft foals 
that development of bone and muscle that is so much 
desired in this class of horses, and will prove greatly help- 
ful to idle horses and brood mares in winter, but small 
amounts only should be fed to horses at hard work. 



FO(JD FROM FIKLD ROOTS AND TUBERS 327 

Sugar beets. — Compared with other field roots, sugar 
beets have a high feeding vahie, but the cost of growing 
them as grown for the factory, is considerably more than 
that of growing mangels under similar conditions. It is also 
more than would furnish an equal tonnage of rutabagas 
where the conditions are favorable to the growth of the lat- 
ter. For feeding live stock, therefore, it is usually considered 
preferable to grow mangels or rutabagas. The labor involved 
in thinning and harvesting sugar beets is much more than 
that called for in thinning and harvesting either of the crops 
named. But there are varieties of sugar beets that have 
special adaptation for being grown for live stock, owing to 
their large size. The sugar content of these is higher than 
that of mangels, hence thev are more suitable for certain 
kinds of feeding. Sugar beets, like mangels, may be grown 
in some portions of almost every state in the Union, and in 
many of the provinces of Canada. Owing to the high 
sugar content of sugar beets, they are more highly relished 
than other field roots and are also more valuable for fat pro- 
duction, but they are not more valuable for feeding young 
animals to promote growth, and are probably less valuable 
for producing milk. 

As in the case of mangels they are usually fed sliced or 
pulped, but when fed to swine and especially to brood sows, 
they are generally fed whole. In practice, the difference in 
the feeding value of sugar beets and sugar beet pulp is less 
than chemical analysis would assign to these. 

By cattle, sugar beets are highly relished. From 
10 pounds downward may be fed daily to calves ac- 
cording to their age with gratifying results. Young cattle 
on dry roughage will take larger amounts. Milch cows will 
make good use of 20 to 30 pounds per day in the absence of 
corn ensilage, and smaller amounts in conjunction with the 
same. But, of course, it is not absolutely necessary to feed 
sugar beets to dairy cows that are being given a liberal al- 
lowance of corn ensilage. To cattle that are being fattened, 
large amounts may be fed daily, limited only by the cost and 



328 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

the capacity of the animals to consume tliem. Economy, 
however, points in tlie direction of the very moderate feed- 
ing of roots mider American conditions, owing to the cost 
of growing them. 

For sheep, sugar beets are excellent when fed to breed- 
ing ewes on dry feed. They are also particularly good for 
milk lambs that are being pushed for the market. For fat- 
tening sheep and lambs, sugar beets should be fed along with 
grain, notwithstanding their high sugar content. They are 
too bulky a food to admit of feeding them alone for fatten- 
ing along with hay. 

For sivine of all ages, sugar beets are excellent, espe- 
cially for growing swine. They are greatly relished by 
young animals and furnish an economical food for them 
when fed as part of the ration. Brood sows will winter 
nicely and cheaply on them with a small amount of grain 
added. A small quantity will be found helpful far beyond the 
cost, to animals that are being pushed along by heavy feed- 
ing of grain. Experiments conducted in feeding sugar beets 
to swine, have shown that from 4 to 8 pounds of sugar beets 
are equal to i pound of barley. 

To horses, sugar beets are not much fed, but 
when available, moderate quantities will be as helpful 
relatively to young horses as to young stock of other 
classes. To horses that are at work, the same limitations 
in feeding should be observed as in feeding other roots, 
which means that they should not be fed to the extent of 
relaxing the bowels unduly. 

Rutabagas and turnips. — The rutabaga is a variety of 
turnip which it is thought originated in Sweden, hence in 
Great Britain and Canada they are commonly designated 
Swedish turnips. They are by far the most commonly 
grown and also the most valuable of the turnip family, ow- 
ing to the firmness of the bulbs and the long period during 
which they may be kept. Turnips, as distinguished from 
rutabagas, grow more quickly than the latter, are less firm 
in flesh, and do not retain their good feeding qualities so 



FOOD FROM FIELD ROOTS AND TUBERS 329 

long as the former. The methods of growing the different 
varieties is substantially the same, although on suitable soils 
and at proper elevations, they may be grown over wide 
areas of the United States, the conditions best suited to 
their growth being on good, sandy loam soils where the tem- 
peratures in the growing season are moderate to cool, and 
where the atmosphere is moist. Large areas in Canada are 
admirably adapted to the growing of both. All kinds of 
turnips are at their best for feeding when the crop is first 
harvested, but rutabagas especialy retain their good feed- 
ing properties for a long period. More commonly these 
roots are sliced or pulped before feeding them, except, of 
course, when they are fed off by sheep where they grew. 
This practice, very common in Great Britain, is quite feas- 
ible in those portions of the United States where the soil is 
not heavy, and where frost does not lock the ground early in 
the season, but more commonly it is necessary both in this 
country and in Canada to store the crop for future feeding. 
For cattle of all classes and ages, as a food adjunct 
both rutabagas and turnips are excellent, except that 
when fed to cows giving milk, both the milk and butter 
resulting will possess the odor of the roots unless they are 
fed with caution. From say lo pounds downwards, fed 
daily to calves, according to age, will aid materially in the 
absence of other green food in maintaining them in good 
thrift, and in securing satisfactory development of bone and 
muscle. To young cattle, yarded in winter, and maintained 
chiefly or wholly on inferior hay or straw, they may be fed 
with much benefit up to that limit which would make feed- 
ing them too costly. Along with straw, lo to 15 pounds a 
day will insure both thrift and growth in such animals. To 
cattle that are being fattened, 100 pounds per day is some- 
times fed in Great Britain. Such feeding of roots would be 
too costly under American conditions. Such cattle in this 
country, if fed rutabagas or turnips at all, are seldom fed 
more than 10 to 20 pounds per animal, daily. Milch cows may 



330 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

be fed similar amounts without much hazard of taint in the 
milk, providing thev are fed night and morning just after 
each milking. 

For sheep, rutabagas and turnips have been used to 
a greater extent probably than in feeding any other class 
of live stock. When fed freely to young lambs, in a finely 
sliced condition, they aid materially in starting them into 
vigorous growth. When pregnant ewes are being given 
leguminous fodders, it is thought that large quantities 
of rutabagas or turnips in addition tend to produce lambs 
abnormally large, but deficient in vitality. From 2 to 4 
pounds a day will probably be enough, but subsequently 
to lambing they may be fed in much larger quantities. 
Sheep may be fattened almost entirely on grain and 
turnips. When so fattened, the roots may be fed up 
to the limit of the capacity of the sheep to consume them. 
But such fattening is far too costly for American condi- 
tions. Only a few pounds daily are usually fed to such 
sheep when fed at all. 

To sivine, rutabagas and turnips may be fed as a 
part of the ration when not on succulent pasture, and 
more especially while they are being grown, but they 
are not so fond of them as of sugar beets or mangels. They 
may be fed sliced, pulped or whole and with or without the 
tops. There may be instances in which they may aid in har- 
vesting the crop, as when turnips are sown along with the 
small cereals. Brood sows turn them to good account in win- 
ter when a small amount of grain is fed in addition. When 
the labor conditions will admit of it, they may sometimes be 
fed with profit to pigs that are being fattened, when cooked 
and mixed with meal. 

To horses of all ages, though not commonly fed, 
both rutabagas and turnips may be so fed. They are 
commonly sliced or pulped when fed thus. When pulped 
they are usually mixed with cut fodder. One pound of 
hay has a feeding value equal to 4 pounds of rutabagas. 



FOOD FROM FIELD ROOTS AND TUBERS 33 1 

Carrots. — The carrot is one of the surest root crops 
that can be grown in the United States, and it may also be 
grown under the greatest variety of conditions. It is also 
one of the most valuable when it is grown. Nevertheless, 
it is probably grown to a less extent as a food for live stock 
than any other root crop devoted to such feeding. This 
arises, first, from the relatively large amount of labor in- 
volved in keeping the crop clean, and second, from the rel- 
atively large amount of the same called for in harvesting 
and storing the roots, which do not usually grow so large 
as other field roots. They furnish an excellent and safe 
food for all classes of farm animals. As with other field 
roots, they have a physiological value, so to speak, in addi- 
tion to their feeding value, especially when the other food 
fed is dry. To produce this efifect, it is not necessary to feed 
a large quantity. Notwithstanding, carrots are so safe a 
food that they may be fed in large quantities where such 
feeding will prove economical. It is not necessary to slice 
them for feeding unless when they are being fed to young 
calves or to lambs. 

For cattle of all classes, carrots furnish an excellent 
food. A few pounds fed daily to calves will add greatly 
to their development, especially when the fodder fed 
is dry. They may be fed with the utmost freedom to milch 
cows, and without any fear of tainting the milk. They tend 
greatly to stimulate milk production in cows on winter ra- 
tions. For milk production they may be fed up to the limit 
of at least 30 pounds daily, when they are not too costly. 
When they can be spared for such a use, a few pounds fed 
daily to cattle that are being wintered on dry fodder will 
result in great benefit to them. They will also tend to pro- 
duce rapid gains when fed to cattle that are being fattened, 
but they are usually too costly a food to admit of feeding 
them thus. 

For sheep, carrots are as valuable relatively as for cat- 
tle. From I to 3 pounds daily in the winter will ad I 
much to the thrift of store sheep and breeding ewes kept on 



332 JFEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

dry food. For sheep that are being fattened, carrots will 
usually be found too costly, but a few pounds fed daily way 
be in order under some conditions. 

For szvine, tests conducted in Denmark have shown 
that on the basis of dry matter, carrots and mangels were 
about equal in feeding value. This would mean that pound 
for pound, carrots would be more valuable than mangels 
for such feeding, but the difference is not great, On the 
other hand, carrots are not so much relished by swine as 
mangels. The highest value from feeding carrots to swine 
will probably come from feeding them to brood sows in 
winter along with grain. Nutriment in the carrots will usu- 
ally be furnished more cheaply than an equal amount of nu- 
triment in the grain. 

For horses of all classes, carrots have been found valu- 
able. In Ontario, Canada, considerable quantities of carrots 
are grown for such feeding. A few pounds per day are 
excellent for promoting thrift and growth in weanling foals 
and also in those of more advanced age. They are excellent 
for keeping in tone the digestion of horses wintered on dry 
food, more especially when it is composed mainly of straw. 
Horses at work can also use a moderate amount to advan- 
tage, but, owing to the large amount of water which they 
contain, the quantity fed should be moderate, usually not 
more than a few pounds per day. They are also much 
prized in providing food for stallions when fitting them for 
service and also for the show-ring. Usually not more than 
12 to 15 pounds per day are fed. They act beneficially on 
the glands of the skin and thereby improve the coat. 

Irish potatoes.— Potatoes of a quality that would fit 
them for the market may sometimes be fed with profit to 
various classes of farm animals when market values run so 
low as to justify such feeding, but they are seldom or never 
grown primarily for feeding live stock. Field roots, as 
mangels and rutabagas, can usually be grown so as to pro- 
duce more nutrients per acre than potatoes and at less ccst, 



FOOD FROM FIELD ROOTS AND TUBERS 333 

while the former are also more highly relished. Those re- 
jected for cooking, however, because of insufficient size or 
because unshapely, may always be turned to good account 
when judiciously fed to farm animals. 

Potatoes are rick in starch and, therefore, may be used 
with profit under some conditions in fattening animals, 
more especially swine. They are so bulky, however, and 
contain so much water, that it has been found more profit- 
able when feeding them for fat production to remove much 
of the water by first cooking them. To other classes of 
stock they are more commonly fed raw. But potatoes, old 
and shrivelled, or that have sprouted, should not be so fed, 
as they contain a principle, solanim which is dangerous to 
live stock and which is removed by boiling the tubers. Like 
all classes of tubers and field roots, they have a beneficial 
influence on the digestion apart from the nutritive value, 
consequently when fed to farm animals maintained on dry 
food, they aid in keeping the digestion in tone. Except 
when fed to swine and grown sheep, they should usually be 
sliced. Cattle may choke on them when fed whole. 

To cattle of all classes, potatoes may be fed with more 
or less benefit when they can be spared for such feeding, 
unless when the animals are being maintained on succulent 
food. A few pounds only should be fed to calves daily. 
Cows in milk should not be given potatoes in large quanti- 
ties except in conjunction with protein foods, owing to the'.r 
highly carbonaceous character, otherwise they may tend too 
much to the production of fat rather than milk. With such 
foods in plentiful supply, as many as 15 to 20 pounds per 
day may be fed without harmful results. Cattle that are be- 
ing fattened will take as much as 30 pounds per day, but 
usually smaller quantities will suffice. 

To sheep, a few pounds fed daily when on dry feed 
will aid materially in promoting thrift in the flock. Usually 
2 to 4 pounds may be fed with benefit to breeding sheep not 
on grass. Twice these amounts and even more may be fed 
to sheep that are being fattened. When sliced they may 



334 FELLING FARM ANIMALS 

be fed with satisfaction to milk lambs that are being pushed 
for the market. There may also be instances in which they 
may be allowed to feed on cull potatoes in the field. 

For szviiie, especially when they are being fattened, po- 
tatoes are relatively more valuable than for other classes of 
live stock. They may be fed raw, but experience has shown 
that when cooked, the gains resulting ard materially in- 
creased. They may be cooked by steaming or boiling. If 
cooked by boiling, as little water should be used as will suf- 
fice. Meal is then added and the whole is made into a mash. 
If cooked squashes or pumpkins are added, the ration will 
be cheapened, but such food is rather adapted to growing 
swine. Danish experiments have shown that 4 pounds 
of potatoes were required to make as much increase with 
swine as i pound of grain. Wisconsin experiments have 
shown that 4I4 pounds fed raw are required to make as 
much increase as i pound of corn. Swine do not relish 
them when made into a thin slop. When cull potatoes are 
left as they fell from the digger, swine may be used in 
gathering them up, but should be given some grain also in 
addition. 

Horses at work may be given from 10 to 12 pounds of 
raw potatoes daily. If fed larger quantities, there would 
be some tendency to an unduly lax condition of the bowels. 
Even larger amounts may be fed to brood mares and horses 
not at work, especially when they are in a low condition. 
Half the amounts named above should suffice for weanling 
foals. 

Sweet potatoes, — These are primarily grown as food 
for man and yet they may be profitably grown as food for 
live stock in certain areas of those portions of the United 
States that are favored with a mild climate, so mild that no 
frost is present for 150 days during the period of growth, 
and the midnight temperatures do not reach lower than 45°. 
Although they have highest adaptation for being fed to 
swine, they are frequently fed also to cows, and may be fed 
to all classes of domestic animals on the farm. The yields of 



FOOD FROM FIELD ROOTS AND TUBERS 335 

the coarse growing varieties are sometimes very large, as 
large as 9 to 12 tons of tubers per acre, and in some instances 
the enormous production of 18 tons per acre has been 
reached. The average yields, however, are considerably 
lower than 9 tons per acre. To grow the crop at its best, 
requires a loam soil, inclining to sandy, porous and natu- 
rally fertile or made so. Sweet potatoes may be grown even 
for live stock, southward from the Potomac and Ohio riv- 
ers, in the East, and southward from the latitude of Des 
Aloines, Iowa, and in the mountain valleys, southward from 
say Walla Walla in Washington in the West. They are usu- 
ally fed in the sliced form except when fed to swine. The 
perishable nature of sweet potatoes tends to shorten the sea- 
son for feeding them, and to encourage the feeding of the 
crop as soon as is reasonable after it has matured. 

For cattle, the aim should be to feed leguminous ad- 
juncts along with sweet potatoes. Though relatively better 
adapted for fattening than for milk production, they are 
more commonly fed for the latter end. A few pounds fed 
daily to calves and young cattle will aid them materiallv. 
Large quantities may be fed with safety to beef cattle, but 
moderate quantities will probably be found relatively more 
profitable. In some instances 40 to 45 pounds per day have 
been fed to cows in milk. But these quantities would seem 
excessive of a food so rich in carbohydrates. The results 
will probably be more satisfactory when not more than 15 
to 20 pounds are fed daily along with concentrates such as 
soy bean or cottonseed meal. 

To sheep, sweet potatoes are seldom given, largelv 
for the reason that where they are grown most extensively, 
sheep are not much grown. They may be used with ad- 
vantage in feeding off the tops before the crop is har- 
vested. For sheep that are being grazed on such pas- 
ture as cowpeas or Japan clover, especially with a view to 
fattening them, sweet potatoes should furnish a very suit- 
able complement. A few pounds fed daily should suffice, 
but heavier feeding mav also sometimes be in order. 



^^6 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

For szciiic, sweet potatoes are better adapted to fur- 
nishing food than for other classes of Hve stock, as 
in addition to being very much reHshed by swine, they 
are a good food for fattening them, and they may also be 
harvested by the swine. Being a bulky food, some concen- 
trated food should be fed along with them. I'or such feed- 
ing cowpeas and soy beans are very suitable, but corn may 
also be fed so as to form one-half the concentrate. When 
swine are thus fattened on sweet potatoes, they should not 
be required to glean closely lest the exertion thus made 
should be too much for the best gains to result. " Sucii 
gleaning should be done by store swine. 

For horses and nudes, at work in the South, sweet 
potatoes are frequently fed. For such feeding they have 
been found quite suitable when fed sliced along with corn 
or other grain, in the proportion of say 3 pounds of 
potatoes to i pound of grain. There would seem to be no 
reasons why they should not be fed in moderation to foals 
and to young horses not yet matured, when they can be 
spared for such feeding. 

Jerusalem artichokes. — These may be successfully 
grown in nearly all parts of the United States and Canada. 
The tops are sometimes used in providing food tor stock 
where intensive conditions prevail, but even under such con- 
ditions, the chief value of the crop lies in the tubers. They 
are more watery than potatoes, but are richer in proteni. In 
feeding value they have been found fully equal to potatoes, 
viewed from the standpoint of practical results. Their abil- 
ity to resist frost without injury adds much to their eco- 
nomic importance, ,a:S it makes it possible to harvest them 
with swine or otherwise even after the winter has gone. 
The yields vary greatly with varying conditions, but 200 to 
300 bushels per acre may be readily grown under average 
conditions. The persistency with which artichokes remain 
in the soil is one objection to growing them. 

For cattle, the feeding value of artichokes is much the 
same as that of potatoes, and about the same quantities may 



FOOD FROM FIELD ROOTS AND TUHERS T^T^y 

be profitably fed. It is not probable, however, that they 
will ever be much grown as food for cattle because of the 
labor required in handling them for winter feeding, when 
they are more valuable relatively than at other seasons. 
They furnish good food for calves, for store cattle in win- 
ter and for cows in milk, also for cattle that are being fat- 
tened, when they can be spared for such feeding. 

For sheep, both the roots and tops of the plants may 
be used in providing food. Sheep soon come to be fond 
of both, but, of course, they do not consume the woody 
portit)n of the stalk. Store sheep and breeding flocks will 
be much benefited from supplementing the other dry food 
fed with 2 or 3 povmds of artichokes per day. The less 
cost, however, of handling field roots, will to a great ex- 
tent, preclude the growing of artichokes as a food for 
sheep. 

For sii.nue, the best and chief use of artichokes con- 
sists in furnishing them with food. They may be fed to. swine 
at any age subsequently to the weaning period. When used 
as a part of the fattening ration, they may be fed in the same 
way as potatoes, that is cooked and fed along with meal. 
(See p. 334.) But their highest use in feeding swine is 
found in the food which they furnish to growing swine and 
brood sows when harvested by these. Ordinarily the labor 
of harvesting artichokes by swine that are being fattened is 
so much that it would so far prove adverse to laying on 
Besh. This labor, however, is very beneficial to brood sows, 
especially when they are pregnant. It furnishes them that 
degree of exercise which tends so much to promote stamina 
in the young animals when born. Swine that are being 
grown will be much aided in their development by having 
access to a field of artichokes, but a grain supplement is 
necessary to promote quick growth and it is also nec- 
essary though not in quantity so large for brood 
sows that are feeding thus on artichokes. The milder 
the climate, the more prolonged may be the feeding season, 
because of the shorter period during which the ground is 
frozen. 



338 p-EEDING FARM ANIMALS 

For horses, tests made in feeding artichokes have 
shown that they are excellent. They are also fond of them. 
They have been fed to horses to the extent of making a 
reduction of 50 per cent in the hay required with results that 
were satisfactory. They may be fed whole to all classes of 
stock, but in some instances they are sliced. 

Cassava. — This is a tropical or sub-tropical American 
shrub of the genus Manihot and the order Euphorbiaceae. It 
is a shrub-like plant at the base of which grow prong-like tu- 
bers. These are more or less extensively used in feeding 
live stock in the Gulf states. It is best grown on sandy land, 
and the yields range from 2 or 3 tons to 15 tons per 
acre. The tubers are exceedingly rich in starch, and they 
have been much grown during recent years to supply mills 
erected for the express purpose of manufacturing starch 
from them. 

As the plants may be grown as annuals or perennials, 
and as it is not usual to dig them as food for stock during 
the active period of growth, they are seldom extensively 
used in feeding animals from May i to November i. In 
other words, it is usual to feed them during other months 
of the year. As under ordinary conditions of exposure, 
they do not keep long when unearthed, they are usually dug 
as wanted for feeding. Should the supply be in excess of 
the needs for feeding, the unharvested residue may be left 
in the soil to increase for feeding the following season. 
The increase made, however, is partly counterbalanced by 
increase in woody fibre in the tubers. In addition to fur- 
nishing wholesome food for quadrupeds on the farm, they 
are coming to be much prized as a food for poultry. The 
tubers do not call for any other preparation than slicing, 
when they are being made ready for feeding. 

For cattle, cassava tubers are very valuable, more 
especially when they are to be fattened. When properly 
fed to milch cows they also aid materially in the produc- 
tion of milk. Such feeding should only be done in con- 
junction with a liberal supply of protein foods, such as 



FOOD FROM FIELD ROOTS AND TUBERS ^^tj 

cottonseed meal and cowpea or other leguminous fod- 
der. It is said that the free feeding of cassava to cows 
tends to give the milk a reddish tint and high color to the 
butter. Cottonseed meal fed with cassava aids in firming 
the butter. For beef production, as much as 20 to 25 pounds 
is sometimes fed to one animal daily. When thus fed, the 
cassava will go far to take the place of corn. For such 
feeding, the roots may be sliced with a spade in the absence 
of a cutting box. 

For sheep, cassava has not been much used, but for 
such feeding it will doubtless be found quite as useful 
as for feeding cattle. Its highest use in feeding sheep will 
be in fattening them. From 4 to 6 pounds per day 
would probably be found ample for mature sheep along 
with suitable adjuncts. 

For sivine, cassava has proved an excellent food. 
They become very fond of it, and it may be fed to 
them even to the extent of producing excessive fatness. 
For young and growing swine it should be fed along with 
such foods as shorts or cowpeas. It should only be fed in 
moderate quantities to brood sows that are pregnant, but 
may be fed with much freedom to swine that are being fat- 
tened. Swine should never be allowed to harvest the crop, 
as the portions brought to the surface and unused by the 
swine would soon spoil, but the practice of allowing swine 
to glean in fields from which a crop has been harvested is 
commendable, as they search out and consume portions of 
broken prongs that have been left in the ground. 

For horses and mules at work, when cassava is fed, 
the grain feed may be reduced proportionately. Cassava 
and corn do not make so suitable a food as cassava and 
oats, since the latter have a higher protein content than 
corn. If cottonseed meal is fed to horses (see p. 286), a 
small amount fed daily should answer well to feed with 
cassava. When large amounts of cassava are fed daily to 
horses, the aim should be to feed leguminous fodders along 
with it. Should it be fed to young animals also, the aim 
should be the same. 



340 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Cabbage. — This plant is usually primarily grown as food 
for the human family, but in some instances it is also grown 
as food for live stock, and even when grown primarily as 
food for the human family, the residue of leaves furnishea 
excellent food for some classes of live stock. No kind of 
green crop is grown over a wider area. The soil and climate, 
however, of northwestern prairies have highest adaptation 
for the growth of this plant. On -such soils as many as 24 
tons of heads per acre have been grown, not including a large 
amount of leaves. The leaves may be gathered and fed to 
live stock after the heads have been removed, or they may 
be fed off by sheep or even by swine where they grew. In 
some instances the entire crop is grazed down by sheep in 
the late autumn. Cabbage furnishes excellent food for 
some kinds of farm animals in winter, but the labor in- 
volved in storing them is such as to make the feeding of 
cabbage too expensive, unless when they are fed to milk 
lambs in order to hasten their development for the market. 
In some latitudes, however, the winters are so mild that cab- 
bage will not take serious harm though left exposed where 
they grew. In such instances, the leaves and soft heads 
may be fed with profit to cows, ewes and brood sows. 

For cattle, the highest use of cabbage is found 
in feeding them to cows for the production of milk. The 
leaves and soft or immature heads may thus be fed 
with satisfactory results, at least in a limited way. They 
are excellent for stimulating milk production. The plan of 
grazing cows on areas from which a crop of cabbage has 
been removed is not to be commended, as such grazing is 
likely to result in too lax a condition of the bowels, and it 
may also result in tainting the milk, more especially when 
decayed or partially decayed leaves are present. Such food 
will be helpful to calves, but even for them, the results are 
more satisfactory when the amount of cabbage or leaves 
fed is restricted. They are seldom or never fed to cattle 
that are being fattened. 



FOOD FROM FIELD ROOTS AND TUBERS 34I 

For sheep, the best results, all things considered, are 
probably obtained from feeding cabbage, and in no way 
can they be more profitably fed than by grazing them 
off where they grew. An enormous amount of food per 
acre can thus be furnished from a crop of cabbage grown 
under favorable conditions, more than can be obtained from 
rape, but more labor is involved in growing cabbage. The 
grazing of cabbage may be continued later than the graz- 
ing of rape, as cabbage take less injury from frost. As 
when grazing down rape, the results will be more satisfac- 
tory when the sheep may have access also to a grass pas- 
ture in an advanced stage of growth. Sheep also answer 
admirably for gleaning in areas from which the merchant- 
able heads have been removed. In mild latitudes sheep may 
be thus grazed far on into the winter, but on stiff clay soils, 
such grazing would tend to impact the land. 

For szviiie, rejected cabbage may be profitably uti- 
lized at any season and under nearly all conditions of 
feeding, but the crop is never grown primarily for 
such a use. Cabbage leaves and soft cabbage may be fed to 
swine at all times, or they may be allowed to glean amid the 
unharvested portions of a crop after removing the market- 
able heads, but the waste will be greater than when sheep 
are used for such grazing. The rejected heads from stored 
cabbage may be better utilized by swine than by other stock, 
as they are less harmed by consuming partially decayed 
heads than other classes of live stock would be. 

To horses, cabbage are seldom fed, but there are 
no reasons why they should not be fed to colts and 
brood mares except those which arise from inconvenience 
in feeding them. To work horses they would have to be 
fed with prudent caution. 

Pumpkins. — This crop may be grown successfully un- 
der any conditions that are favorable to the growth of a crop 
of corn. They are very frequently grown in the corn crop, 
and they may be grown thus without in any way retarding 
the growth of the corn, but they are also frequently sown as 



342 FEEDING FARxM ANIMALS 

the sole crop occupying the land. The small varieties are gen- 
erally used as food for man, but more commonly the large 
varieties are fed to the various classes of animals kept upon 
the farm. The use of the binder in cutting corn will prob- 
ably tend to lessen the growth of pumpkins in this crop, as 
unless removed in advance of the binder, they are much li- 
able to be broken by the same. They are easily injured by 
frost, and when so injured will soon spoil, hence, the aim 
should be to feed them in the autumn and early winter, as 
the labor of storing them is considerable in proportion to 
their feeding value. Those immature will decay more read- 
ily than pumpkins fully matured, hence, the aim should be 
to feed them first. When feeding pumpkins, they are usu- 
ally cut open with the spade, and for some kinds of feeding 
are cut into smaller pieces. 

For cattle of all classes, pumpkins furnish excellent 
food, but they are most highly prized for feeding 
cows in milk. When so fed, the practice is common of 
drawing them daily or twice a day from the place where 
they grew to the pastures. They are then tossed out of the 
wagon, and in falling, the concussion usually breaks them 
open, so that further division is not necessary. Cows are 
exceedingly fond of them, and may with safety be allowed 
to consume them in large quantities. The claim has been 
made that the seeds are adverse to free milk giving, but 
this claim has not been sustained by the experience of feed- 
ers. The free feeding of pumpkins is highly favorable to 
abundant milk production. Pumpkins should always be fed 
in a clean place, hence, when fed to cattle in pastures, the 
exact place of feedi^ig should be changed from day to day. 
They should be finely sliced when fed to calves. For such 
feeding they are highly suitable. 

By sheep, pumpkins are much relished and also by 
lambs, as soon as they become accustomed to them. They 
will learn to eat them more quickly if first sliced and salted. 
They may be fed to sheep in the same way as to cattle. Ex- 
cept for a few days at the first, they may be allowed to eat 



FOOD FROM FIELD ROOTS AND TUBERS 343 

them with much freedom. They will be found of much 
value in promoting development in lambs kept for breeding 
uses. 

To szi'iiie, pumpkins are frequently fed with new 
corn. When so fed, they correct impaired digestion 
and improve the appetite. The portion of the crop that 
is immature is more commonly fed to swine than to other 
stock, as swine will consume pumpkins even when in partial 
decay which would be rejected by other farm stock. The 
practice which grows low-growing varieties of corn that 
produce ears abundantly, with pumpkins plentifully inter- 
spersed, and which consumes both crops with swine, is to be 
commended. It is labor saving and the combination makes 
excellent food for fattening swine. 

By horses, pumpkins are much relished but they 
are seldom fed to them, as it is usually more con- 
venient to feed them to other classes of live stock. In the 
absence of other green food, they render good service when 
fed to weanling foals. They must, of course, be fed with 
some caution to horses at work, as they may relax the bow- 
els too much when fed over freely. 

Squash. — This plant, commonly grown to provide food 
for man, is in some instances grown to specially pro- 
vide food for swine. On ground properly prepared, when 
all the conditions are suitable, many tons may be grown on 
an acre. Preference should be given to the soft shelled va- 
rieties when of suitable size, otherwise the rinds may prove 
s;) hard as to make it difficult for animals to consume them, 
unless they are first softened by cooking. As considerable 
c:ire and labor are involved in storing them so that they will 
l:eep into and through the winter months, and as they are 
easily injured by frost, the aim should be to feed them in the 
autumn, and to feed first any that may be immature, as they 
are the most perishable. Unless when feeding them to 
swine, it is necessary to slice or break them open as with a 
spade, and even when fed to swine, the hard shelled varie- 
ties should be thus prepared. When squashes are fed to 



344 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS' 

live stock on dry food, as in the case of field roots, they have 
a physiological value in addition to the food which they 
furnish (see p. 51). 

For cattle of all classes, squash may, of course, be 
fed when they can be spared for such feeding, but they 
are most prized for producing milk and are, therefore, more 
frequently fed to cows than to other classes of cattle. 
Where large areas are grown for the market, rejected 
squash, usually available in large quantities, may be turned 
to good account by feeding them to cows in milk. No harm 
probably will result from feeding them in liberal supply 
when they can be spared, unless the amount fed should too 
much relax the bowels. Usually, however, the most profit 
is made by feeding such adjuncts in moderate quantities, 
otherwise the benefit resulting in addition to nutrients fur- 
nished, may not be secured to the fullest extent. When the 
pastures dry in the autumn, squashes make an excellent 
supplementary food. 

By sheep, squashes are much relished, though for a time 
they may refuse to eat them if not accustomed to them. Es- 
pecially is this true of lambs. When fed to sheep in the 
autumn before the rinds have too much hardened, they will 
materially aid in promoting growth in lambs that have 
been weaned, and in bringing flesh to breeding flocks. 

For szvine, squash are an excellent adjunct when fed in 
the autumn. The most profit, when the labor in- 
volved is considered, is probably obtained from feeding 
them in the autumn along with new corn fed in the stalk or 
in the snapped form. The squashes are available at such a 
time, the rinds are kss hard than later, and when fed at that 
season the cost of storing is avoided. Moreover, they fur- 
nish an excellent adjunct to such corn feeding, as they have 
a corrective influence on the digestion. A few weeks of 
such feeding aids in a marked degree in fitting the system 
for the heavy grain feeding that follows during the fatten- 
ing period. For such feeding, one good sized squash fed 
daily to an animal weighing about 150 pounds will serve a 



FOOD FROM FIELD ROOTS AND TUBERS 345 

good purpose, but more, of course, may be fed with benefit 
if available. For later feeding, especially to swine that are 
being fattened, they are frequently cooked by steaming 
along with meal, and when so prepared, the mixture is fed 
as a mash. Rejected squash with the hardest rinds may thus 
be turned to good account. 

By horses, although some kinds of squash are eaten, 
in the nature of things they are not likely to be much used 
for such feeding. Relatively they are usually more valuable 
to feed to swine or to cows giving milk. 

Peanuts. — This tuber has been grown chiefly to provide 
rood for man, in the United States, but during recent years, 
they are also grown for live stock, more especially for 
swine, which harvest the crop in the fields where they grew. 
The tops also furnish hay that is much relished by live 
stock. The peanut crop may be grown successfully as far 
north as parallel 43°, where the soil conditions are suitable, 
but it has centered heretofore in the light soils of the At- 
lantic and Gulf states. That more food for swine may be 
grown from an acre of peanuts on the light soils of the 
South than from an acre of corn, is generally conceded by 
those who are conversant with the conditions for growing 
the two crops. With skillful cultivation, as many as 50 
bushels of peanuts per acre may be grown on soils of only 
moderate fertility, weighing from 22 to 28 pounds per 
bushel. The nuts furnish one of the richest protein foods 
for live stock that is grown in this country. After the oil 
has been expressed, the cake resulting is fully equal to oil 
cake (see p. 300). The hulls also, when ground, furnish a 
valuable food. (See p. 346.) 

For cattle, the nuts are not much used as food, for 
the reason that unless stained or otherwise injured for 
sale, they are too valuable for such feeding. In some 
instances, however, more or less of the nuts adhere to 
the vines which are fed as hay, dependent upon the mode of 
harvesting. If the vines are not removed before the crop is 
harvested, the rejected peanuts are sometimes fed as hay 



34^ FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

along- with the vines. When thus fed, the vahie of the hay 
is proportionately increased. Without any peanuts adher- 
ing, the hay is nearly equal in value to peanut hay. Re- 
jected nuts, in the form of meal, may be ground alone or 
along with hulls and fed to cattle and other stock. The 
richness of such meal will be proportionate to the amount 
of nuts and hulls respectively which the meal contains. 

By sheep, the fodder and also the defective nuts will be 
turned to good account as soon as they become accustomed to 
such food. They may also be used with advantage in graz- 
ing off the tops before the crop is harvested. No class of 
live stock will effect such grazing with so little waste as 
sheep. Peanut meal may be fed to them also as to cattle, 
but the same necessity does not exist for grinding them for 
sheep. The cake may be fed to sheep in about the same way 
as oil cake. 

For swine, peanuts have higher adaptation in fur- 
nishing food than for any other class of live stock, 
as swine only, of all the domestic animals of the farm, ma}' 
be employed in harvesting the crop. When thus harvested, 
the tops are first removed by grazing them down with cat- 
tle or sheep, preferably the latter, or they are mown to be 
made into hay. When thus harvested by swine, it is greatly 
advantageous at the same time to give them access to about 
an equal area of corn, or to feed them a supplement of corn 
daily. It has been claimed that a bushel of peanuts, weigh- 
ing from 22 to 28 pounds, will make 9 pounds of pork, 
in other words, that 3 pounds of ])eanuts will make I 
pound of pork, whereas about 5 pounds of corn are re- 
quired to make the' same. The crop may, of course, be fed 
to swine when confined in pens. When so fed, the tops are 
first removed and the roots are then dug and placed before 
the swine with the nuts adhering to them. Peanuts alone 
make soft pork, hence the necessity for feeding a supple- 
ment of corn in order to firm the pork. 

For horses, peanuts whole or ground are not much 
used. The hay from peanuts is frequently fed to them, and 



FOOD FRO^[ FIF.LD ROOTS AND TUBERS 347 

the same is true of peanut cake or of the meal made from 
the same. (See p. 300.) When peanut hay is fed to horses 
with the nuts adhering, some caution should be exercised 
owing to the richness of the food. 

Tops of roots and tubers. — The various roots and tu- 
bers, the tops of which may be used as food for stock, in- 
clude mangels, sugar beets, rutabagas and turnips, carrots, 
sweet potatoes, peanuts and artichokes. The tops of Irish po- 
tatoes and cassava are possessed of little or no value for feed- 
ing. The value of the tops of roots in feeding live stock is 
measurably dependent on the way in which they are fed, and 
on the relative cost of handling them. The tops of field roots 
when fed, are either consumed in the field after the crop has 
been removed, or are drawn daily and strewn over pastures 
where live stock, may gather them, or they are fed in man- 
gers. When gleaned by the stock in the field, they are much 
liable to induce scouring because of their succulence and the 
extent to which they are consumed, but this tendency lessens 
proportionately with the wilting of the leaves. Because of 
this hazard, many growers simply spread them and then 
plow them under for the benefit of the soil. Sheep will con- 
sume them with less waste than other classes of live stock, 
and if given access to an old pasture while thus consuming 
the tops, the tendency to scours will be measurablv removed. 
When drawn and fed. the amount consumed, may of course, 
be controlled. The tops of roots are specially valuable in 
furnishing milk. 

Maii(^cl tops. — The proportion of the tops to the roots 
of mangels varies much with the variety. With most vari- 
eties it is probably less, rather than more than 20 per cent- 
The leaves of mangels are removed without any portion of 
the root adhering to them, as in the case of sugar beets, 
hence, they are less valuable relatively for feeding. Under 
intensive conditions, the lower leaves are sometimes re- 
moved from the growing crop and fed to live stock. This 
mav be done as it approaches maturity with little or no det- 
riment to the crop. The leaves of both mangel and sugar 



348 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

beets have considerable purgative properties, caused by the 
large proportion of organic acids which they contain, a fact 
that must be recognized when feeding them 

Sii<^ar beet tops. — With sugar beets, the proportion of 
the tops to the beets is large, usually more than 25 per cent, 
owing to the fact that a considerable proportion of the root 
is removed with the top when preparing the roots for the 
factory. The feeding value of the tops, therefore, is very 
considerable, but, because of the presence of oxalic acid in 
the leaves, they should be fed with moderation. In some 
countries of Europe, lime is sprinkled over the successive 
layers which form the earth-covered heaps in which they 
are sometimes kept for feeding, with a view to neutralize 
the acid. 

Turnip tops. — The tops of rutabagas and turnips are 
usually from 20 to 25 per cent of the entire crop. Live 
stock are very fond of them and they do not possess purga- 
tive properties to nearly the same extent as beet leaves. But 
they must be fed with caution and discretion to cows in 
milk, or they will taint the same and also the butter made 
from the milk. To avoid such a result, they should be con- 
sumed only after each milking. 

Carrot tops. — The tops of carrots furnish from 20 to 
25 per cent of the total weight of the crop, but the dry mat- 
ter in the tops is somewhat greater than in the roots. Car- 
rot tops, like those of turnips and rutabagas, do not relax 
the bowels nearly as much as the tops of beets or mangels. 
Nor do any of these taint milk as do rutabagas or turnips. 

Szveet potato tops. — The tops of sweet potatoes, though 
possessed of considerable feeding value, are seldom fed to 
live stock, owing in a considerable degree to the difficulty of 
harvesting the vines, because of the trailing character of 
their growth. This does not apply to the vineless sorts, 
which may be cut with the mower. In some instances they 
are grazed down before the tubers are dug. Sheep are best 
adapted to such grazing. 



FOOD FROM FIELD ROOTS AND TUBERS 349 

Peanut and artichoke tops. — These are sometimes fed 
both in the green and dry form. The former make excellent 
hay when cured with care (see p. 345). In some instances 
they are grazed off by sheep. The latter are too woody to 
allow of complete consumption, but the finer portions are 
much relished by stock (see p. 336). 



CHAPTER XVI 
PREPARING FOODS FOR FEEDING. 

In the discussion of this question, foods are considered 
first, with reference to curing ; second, to mechanical prep- 
aration ; third, to blending; and fourth, to softening before 
feeding them. The discussion on curing considers: (i) 
Curing in the green form, ( 2 ) curing in the dry form and 
(3) storing. The discussion on their mechanical prepara- 
tion considers: (i) Grinding or crushing grain, (2) pulp- 
ing or slicing roots, and (3 ) chaffing and shredding fodders. 
The discussion on blending considers : ( i ) Blending me- 
chanically, and (2) blending chemically. The discussion on 
softening considers: (i) Soaking foods, and (2) cooking 
them before they are fed. 

Curing foods green. — Foods are sometimes cured, that 
is preserved, in the green form. When so preserved, the 
curing, so to speak, is accomplished by excluding the air. 
In some instances curing is done by placing the fodder 
while yet green in a large mow and tramping so as to make 
the mass lie closely. In other instances it is placed in stacks 
and subjected to heavy pressure while these are in process 
of erection. The aim is to exclude the air as far as possible. 
That remaining in the mass is removed by the keat which 
develops through fermentation. Preserving green fodders 
thus, though sometimes practiced in America, is not likely 
to become popular in the near future for several reasons 
that may be given. Chief among these is the reason that 
green fodders may usually be ])reserved in silos with less of 
labor and more of effectiveness, and they may also in nearly 
all instances be more easily fed from the same. 

A silo is simi)ly a structure in which green food is pre- 
served, usually in the cut form, and through the walls of 

350 



PREPARING FOODS FOR FEEDING 35 1 

which the air cannot penetrate, at least to the extent of ap- 
preciably injuring the fodder. When the food is cut, it is 
the more easily preserved without waste and may also be 
more easily fed out. Silos arc built of wood, bricks, stone 
or concrete. The circular form is preferred as it favors 
quick and even settling' of the contents. 

Almost any kind of fodder may be preserved in the 
silo by those who follow the correct methods peculiar to the 
proper curing of each. But corn is used to a far greater 
extent in filling silos than any other food. This is owing 
to the large i3roduction per acre, to superior adaptation for 
being cured thus, to the ready means which it furnishes for 
disposing of the crop without husking out the corn, and to 
its great value in general feeding. Next in adaptation are 
the sorghums. In some instances fodders are mixed in the 
silo while filling it with a view to aid in bringing the food 
more nearly into balance. For instance, such nitrogenous 
foods as soy beans are sometimes mixed in with corn. 

The advantages from curing fodders and especially 
corn in the silo are the following : ( i ) The silo preserves 
food with but little waste even though the weather should 
be unpropitious. (2) It preserves such fodders as corn and 
the sorghums with little waste and insures for them more 
complete consumption than would be ordinarily possible 
from any other mode of curing. (3) It furnishes an ex- 
cellent medium, and all prepared, with which to feed meal. 
(4) It puts fodders, particularly, such coarse fodders as 
corn and the sorghums in a condition that admits of feeding 
it at a minimum expenditure of labor. And (5) it may be 
made to furnish succulence at all seasons of the year. 

In feeding corn silage, unless it is removed at the rate 
of one to two inches of the surface daily, the parts exposed 
may take harm from the exposure. It is seldom advisable 
to feed more than 30 to 40 pounds a day, even to a 
dairy cow. Should ensilage become frozen, as it does some- 
times around the edges of the silo, it may still be fed, if fed 



352 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

at once after the frost has left it. Any who may desire fur- 
ther information with reference to silos and silage, are re- 
ferred to the book "Soiling Crops and the Silo," by the au- 
thor. 

Curing foods dry. — It is only fodders that require to 
be cured in the dry form. The curing of these in detail 
cannot be discussed at this time. The curing of each is dis- 
cussed at some length in other works written by the author 
as, "Clovers and How to Grow Them," "Grasses and How 
to Grow Them," "Cultivated Crops and How to Grow 
Them," and "Corn, the Sorghums and Sugar Cane." Only 
some points of superlative importance and general in char- 
acter can be here given. 

In curing fodders, whatsoever their character, the aim 
should be to retain as far as possible the natural color of the 
fodder when harvested, to cure with the least possible ex- 
posure to rain, and to avoid an excessive loss of moisture. 
Of course, the curing of the fodders must be carried far 
enough to prevent them from moulding when stored The 
natural color of the plants will be lost in proportion as they 
are exposed to sunshine and to dew and rain. A certain 
amount of exposure to sunshine is unavoidable and is ab- 
solutely necessary to the curing of fodders, but the aim 
should be not to expose them to sunshine longer than will 
admit of completing their cure in the cock or shock. Un- 
necessary exposure to sunshine results in loss of aroma in 
all plants and leaves of legumes. The loss of aroma 
means loss in palatability and serious loss in nutrition. Clo- 
vers, for instance, properly cured, retain in a marked degree 
the natural color of stem, leaf and blossom. When the 
curing of fodders is completed in the cock or shock, only 
the outer portions are thus injured by sunshine. 

Dezvs and rain not only tend to darken the color in pro- 
portion as they are heavy, but also in proportion as the ex- 
posure is prolonged and severe. They also dissolve and 
wash out of the plants much of the nutrition. The loss in 
aroma, as in the case of exposure to sunlight, also increases 



PREPARING FOODS FOR FEEDING 353 

with the exposure to these influences. Legumes suffer the 
most readily from exposure to. rain and dews, and corn fod- 
ders are more easily harmed than sorghum. Legumes ex- 
posed to much sunshine and to frequent wetting, at length 
become almost valueless as food. The grasses, proper, will 
suffer much less from such exposure and sorghum much 
less than the grasses. 

The loss of moisture is excessive when it goes beyond 
the point at which the plants will keep without harm when 
stored. Loss of moisture virtually means loss of succu- 
lence. Plants fed in the natural condition are more bene- 
ficial to animals than the same plants fed in equal quan- 
tity in the dry condition. Were it not so, succulence in 
foods would have no specific value. Thus it is that hay, 
lying exposed for a long season on the ground, even in the 
entire absence of rain and with little exposure to dew, will 
at length become comparatively valueless for food, not- 
withstanding that when it was first cut it was possessed of 
high feeding value. It also explains why the desire is so 
prevalent to put corn in large shocks in the field after it has 
been husked, although other reasons may, and do exert an 
influence in favor of the practice. The fact, however, must 
not be lost sight of, that the mistake of storing fodders so 
little cured, that they heat so much as to make them dusty, 
the feeding value becomes greatly impaired, and if stored so 
uncured as to induce mould, to feed them even in moderate 
degree is attended with more or less of hazard to the health 
and it may be to the life of the animals. 

Storing foods. — The proper storing of foods calls for 
attention: (i) To protect them from injury which follows 
undue exposure while yet in the fields, (2) to protect them 
from injury after storage, whether from exposure or from 
storing while yet undercured, and (3) to placing them in 
storage where they will be convenient for feeding. 

All kinds of fodder suffer harm and loss, and increas- 
ingly so, with increase in the duration of the exposure sub- 
sequent to that time when they are ready for being stored. 



354 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Hay, for instance, when left unduly long in cocks, takes 
harm from the absorption of ground moisture and from 
undue drying and weathering of the outer portions. The 
straw of certain cereals, useful for being fed to stock when 
well saved, will soon become practically valueless for feed- 
ing if left standing in shocks for any considerable time after 
ready for being stored. Corn stalks gradually lose more or 
less and in various ways, from the time they are put in 
shock and probably in an accelerated ratio as the season ad- 
vances. Cull potatoes soon deteriorate materially in food 
value if left exposed after being dug. The rule is a safe 
one that invariably aims to store foods at the earliest mo- 
ment practicable after they are ready. 

Fodders can in no other way be protected so per- 
fectly after storage as when they have been stored 
under cover. Nor can they in any other way, as a rule, 
be stored so as to involve less labor while feeding them. 
The benefit from such protection increases with increase in 
the precipitation, increase in damp, snowfall and sleet, and 
increase, in the rawness rather than in the degree of the 
cold. The extent to which such protection will be profitable 
must be determined in a considerable degree by the cost of 
materials used in building. When legumes are stored in 
stacks, they cannot be protected in a rainy climate from seri- 
ous loss unless other materials are used in topping out the 
stacks that will completely shed rain. Field roots of all 
kinds, including parsnips and artichokes, must be protected 
from frost or they will take injury varying in degree from 
a slight lessening of the feeding value to a total loss. They 
must also be kept so cool that they will not begin to sprout. 

The storing of food where it will be convenient for 
feeding, is greatly important. If it can be stored so that 
further handling is not necessary until given to the animals 
for consumption, the economy in handling will be apparent, 
as compared with an intermediate handling in addition. 
But intermediate handling cannot always be avoided. In 
the case of corn fodder, in some instances it is necessary 



PREl'ARING FOODS FOR FEEDING 355 

to incur the cost of the intermediate handling involved in 
stacking the fodder rather than to draw from the shock and 
feed directly. Climatic conditions, more than anything else, 
determine which course is the better to adopt. When such 
fodder as hay must be stacked in the open, the aim should 
be to have it near the place for feeding, as when it must be 
drawn far from the place of storage during the winter sea- 
son, the roads are frequently in a bad condition, notwith- 
standing there may be valid reasons for stacking such fod- 
ders on the fields where they grew. In storing roots, the 
aim should be not only to have them near the place of feed- 
ing, but also to avoid, as far as possible, the necessity for 
carrying them up steps in order to feed them. Supplies of 
ensilage and meal also should be obtained from the same 
plane as that on which the animals stand which are to con- 
sume them. 

The wisdom of storing litter, not only where it will be 
properly protected but also where it is conveniently acces- 
sible, is very apparent. There are instances in which the 
proper storing of bedding may be (juite as important as the 
storing of fodders. The conditions of storage are ideal 
when all the fodder and bedding required to carry the ani- 
mals through the winter are stored above them when they 
are housed in a well constructed basement, but such build- 
ings are becoming too costly where materials for construct- 
ing them are dear. 

Grinding or crushing grain. — The necessity for grind- 
ing and crushing grain is dependent: ( i ) On the nature oi 
the grain; (2) the animal to which it is to be fed; (3) the 
combinations for feeding of which it forms a part; and (4) 
the amount and kinds of noxious weed seeds present. As the 
grinding of grain when cured will cost from 5 to ic 
cents a hundred pounds, to say nothing of the cost of con- 
veyance and handling during the process, it becomes a mat- 
ter of considerable importance that unnecessary grinding 
shall be avoided. 



356 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

The necessity for grinding grain, based on the nature 
of the grain, is greatest with seeds naturally small and hard, 
as the seeds of the sorghums and of those that in addition 
contain large quantities of oil, as flax seed, millet seed and 
foxtail seed. Both properties resist the action of the 
gastric fluids when unbroken in mastication, hence they 
pass through the digestive tract to no good purpose, while 
meantime they have put a tax upon the energies of the sys- 
tem while in transit through it. The small cereal grains, 
which are most improved by grinding, are those which arc 
smallest and hardest and which are possessed of the least 
amount of soft hull. The necessity for grinding wheat, for 
instance, is much greater than that for grinding oats. Corn, 
more than any other grain except oats, may be fed without 
grinding, but when it is to be fed in combination with other 
grain, it is usually profitable to grind it. It is absolutely nec- 
essary to do so when corn and cob are both fed. 

Virtually all kinds of grain should be ground when 
fed to calves, the exception under some conditions being 
oats. All kinds of grain when separated from the straw, 
should be ground for beef cattle. The exceptions, but 
under some conditions only, are corn and oats. Unless 
when swine may glean among the droppings, the corn 
should usually be ground. Virtually all kinds of grain are 
improved by grinding when fed to dairy cows. Nearly all 
kinds of grain are improved by grinding for feeding to 
lambs quite young, but this is not necessary when they be- 
gin to eat grain freely, except in the case of corn, which is 
improved by cracking it to enable them the more readily to 
eat it. For lambS; subsequent to weaning, and all mature 
sheep, it is not necessary to grind grain free from noxious 
weed seeds. Grinding improves nearly all kinds of grain 
for swine, when fed unsoaked. The exception is corn when 
fed alone. For horses, oats and corn in the shewed form 
are usually fed unground. Barley, rye, speltz and wheat, 
especially the latter, are frequently, if not always, improved 
by grinding, and the grinding of sorghum and millet seed 



PREPARIXG FOODS FOR FEEDING 357 

is simply indispensable when these are fed to horses. The 
necessity for grinding grain for horses is much greater 
when they are hard at work than when idle. 

When grains are fed in combination, which is a com- 
mon way of feeding them, they are usually ground. 
This is true of them whether fed in the form of meal 
directly or in admixture with cut fodders. The ad- 
vantage from grinding them is based, first, on the 
necessity for grinding some of them ; second, on the greater 
ease with which some of them are ground when blended 
before grinding, and third, on the more complete character 
of the mastication, when thus prepared. Some grains, as 
intimated above, must be ground under all conditions of 
feeding. Flax is much more easily ground with other 
grains than alone and especially when the mixture contains 
just enough of the same for ordinary uses and no more- 
Oats are ground more easily when blended with corn. The 
same is true of other mixtures. Especially is the mastica- 
tion more perfect when the meal is mixed with cut fodders, 
because of the re-grinding given during the rumination 
that follows. 

No kind of grain containing the seeds of nox- 
ious weeds should be fed unground. If so fed, they 
are much liable to escape mastication because of their 
small size, and to escape digestion because of their 
hard and oily character, hence, when carried to the fields, 
they grow, and thus infest the land. Even when weed 
seeds are fed to sheep, they ought to be ground, as many of 
them will fall amid the litter while the sheep are feeding up- 
on the grain. Grinding is usually not more costly than 
complete winnowing, and it is much safer. 

The crushing of grain, accomplished by passing it be- 
tween heavy rollers, in preference to grinding, has some ad- 
vocates. It calls for less power than to grind the grain, 
and in the case of grains that are pasty in character, and li- 
able to adhere to the gums in mastication, as wheat, and to 
a less extent barley, it is preferable to crush than to grind 



35^ FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

for some kinds of feeding. When the crushed grain is 
soaked or mixed with,, cut fodder before being fed, the ad- 
vantage from crushing is lost. Grinding grain, rather than 
crushing it, will always be more practiced on the farm, 
since the machinery for grinding is now in place on nearly 
all farms where grinding is done, since such machinery is 
better adapted to preparing small and hard grains for feed- 
ing, and since it has higher adaptation for varying the de- 
grees of fineness in the grinding. 

The degree of fineness to which grain shall be ground, 
should be determined by the kind of the grain, the way it is 
to be fed, and the animals which are to consume it. It will 
probably be correct to say, that the smaller and harder the 
grain is, the more finely should it be ground. Corn and cob 
meal should be more finely ground than corn meal for aver- 
age uses, the cob'being less digestible. When meal is to be 
fed directly to animals in the unsoaked form, it should be 
finely ground so that the digestive fluids may the more 
readily act upon it; but when thus ground, some kinds of 
meal call for admixture with some substance to render the 
mass less adhesive in the stomach. When meal is to be 
soaked sufficiently long to soften it, fine grinding is not 
necessary, and the same is true of meal which is first mixed 
with cut fodders before being fed to ruminants. Very 
young animals call for meal more finely ground than will 
suffice for those that are older. 

Whether the meal should be ground on the farm 
and by the farmers own machinery, by portable ma- 
chines which travel from place to place, or by stationary 
mills which take-in custom work, is an economic ques- 
tion that must be determined by such considerations as 
the volume of the work to be done, the distance of the sta- 
tionary mills, and the customary charges for grinding. When 
the volume of the work done v/ill justify it, the aim should 
be to grind the feed at home. The power to be used in each 
instance is a question of no little importance. This, too, 
should be largely determined by the amount of the grinding 



PREPARING FOODS FOR FEEDING 359 

called for. When this amount is not very large, wind power 
will probably prove the cheapest. The old-fashioned 
tread-mill, as a source of power, is perhaps not sufficiently 
prized. There is also a place, however, for motor, for gas- 
oline and for steam power, under certain conditions. 

Pulping and slicing roots. — Pulping roots means put- 
ting them through a machine, known as a root pulper. It is 
run by hand or by other power as desired and reduces them 
to a pulpy or finely comminuted condition. Slicing, in the true 
sense of the term, means cutting them into thin slices by put- 
ting them through a machine known as a root sheer, and run 
as in pulping, by hand or other power. In the absence of a 
slicer, they are frequently thrown into a box and chopped in- 
to pieces with a spade. Under some circumstances they are 
fed without either pulping or slicing. Whether to feed 
them thus, or to slice or pulp them, must be determined by 
the conditions present. Whether roots or tubers may be 
fed whole is determined by the kind and size of the variety, 
the class of animals to which they are to be fed, the age of 
these, and the degree of the temperature at the time of 
feeding. Carrots are about the only class of field roots 
which it is practicable to feed to all or nearly all kinds of 
farm stock without first cutting or slicing them. Arti- 
chokes, owing to their shape, and peanuts, owmg to their 
small size, may be similarly fed. The danger is present in 
some degree, that when medium-sized potatoes are fed to 
cattle, they may choke upon them. The aim should be to 
avoid feeding all kinds of roots and tubers to cattle and 
even to horses in the unprepared form, notwithstanding 
that both will feed upon them in the natural state, but not 
with the same ease. Sheep will feed upon all kinds of uncut 
roots, but not so readily as when they are sliced, and the 
same is true of swine, but it is scarcely necessary to slice 
roots for swine well grown or for brood sows. They should 
be sliced or pulped for all kinds of young animals. When 
fed to animals exposed to low temperatures, they should be 



360 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

given in that form in which they can be consumed quickly, 
lest they should freeze more or less before they are all con- 
sumed. 

Roots and tubers are more commonly sliced when they 
are simply being prepared for feeding in the direct form, 
that is, without admixture with other food. This method 
of preparing them is followed rather than that of pulping, 
because it takes less power and because slicers have been 
longer in use. But there is no objection to pulping even for 
direct feeding when it is as convenient or more so to pre- 
pare them thus. 

When field roots or tubers are to be mixed with 
meal or cut feed, it is necessary that they shall be 
pulped rather than sliced, in order to obtain a more per- 
fect blending of the foods. Field roots thus prepared and 
mixed with cut fodders, add greatly to their palatability 
and value. If the plan of pulping roots at the time of lift- 
ing and then storing the pulp after the manner in which en- 
silage is stored should prove successful, the questions of 
storing, keeping, and feeding would be simplified. No data 
can be gathered bearing upon the question, but the behavior 
of sugar beet pulp when ensiled, encourages the hope that 
such storing would be quite practicable. 

Chaffing and shredding fodders. — By chaffing fodders 
is meant running them through a cutting box. The ob- 
jects sought in chaffing food are : ( i ) To insure the con- 
sumption of a fodder low in palatability by admixing it 
with a chaffed fodder high in palatability, as when straw 
and clover hay are cut and mixed before feeding them. (2) 
To insure a larger total consumption of fodders by putting 
them in that condition in which they may be fed after 
being mixed with meal or field roots or both. (3) To 
prepare foods in that condition in which they will keep best 
in the silo, and in which they may be fed out with the least 
expenditure of labor. Straw fodders are also chaffed in 
some instances in order to put them in the best condition 
for being used as litter. When thus chaffed, straw absorbs 



PREPARING FOODS FOR FEEDING 361 

liquid manure more perfectly than when long, and the ma- 
nure is also in a better condition for being easily handled 
and promptly applied to the land as soon as made. But it 
will not be found profitable, as a rule, simply to run fodders 
through a cutting box and to feed them without admixture 
in order to increase consumption in the same. 

When large quantities of meal are to be fed in the ab- 
sence of silage, the plan is frequently adopted of chaffing 
only enough of the fodder to furnish bulky materials with 
which it is mixed before feeding it to ruminants, in order 
to insure its most thorovigh mastication while undergoing 
rumination. The plan is to be commended where the facil- 
ities are present for carrying it out. On some farms, the 
small cereal grains are threshed and chaffed by the one op- 
eration, all the straw grown upon the farm being cut in that 
way. Where the facilities are present for storing the chaffed 
material, the plan is excellent. The blowers now used 
on threshers will be greatly helpful in such instances as aids 
in storing such food. 

Shredding fodder means tearing it into strips or 
shreds by machines made for the purpose. It is used only 
in preparing such coarse fodders for feeding as corn and 
the sorghums. Shredders husk the corn and separate the 
ears in the same while shredding the stalks. Opinions dif- 
fer greatly as to the value of shredding, some regarding 
them with much favor, and others who have used them, 
have ceased to use them longer. These differences in opin- 
ion are due largely to a difference in the conditions under 
which they have been used. They can be used with more 
advantage in a climate naturally dry than in one naturally 
moist, as in the former the shredded fodder is much less 
liable to spoil through fermentation than in the latter. 

Prominent among the benefits from shredding are the 
following : ( I ) The corn is husked, and thus made avail- 
able for feeding as desired, which may not be possible in 
the absence of shredding. (2) The fodder is put in that 
condition which insures a much larger consumption of the 



362 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

stalks, and (3) it makes it possible to store the fodder 
where it is safe from injury from storms. The following 
are chief among the objections to shredding: (i) The ac- 
cidents while running the shredders have been unusually 
numerous, but possibly the element of risk, in this respect, 
may yet be eliminated. (2) In moist climates it has been 
found difficult to keep the shredded fodder from moulding. 
But this may be obviated by mixing with straw. (3) The 
expense is said to be too great in some instances at least to 
justify the outlay and (4) the lower portions of the stalks, 
when very large and coarse, according to some authorities, 
will not repay the energy expended in digesting them. The 
difference in the character of the stalks before shredding 
as coarse or fine, probably accounts for the great differences 
reported in the amount of fodder left unconsumed when 
fodder is shredded. 

Corn fodder is sometimes prepared for feeding by run- 
ning the corn while yet unhusked through a threshing 
machine on the approach of winter. To this method of 
handling corn, the same objections apply as when shredding 
it, except that which applies to cost. But in addition to 
these objections are the large portions of stalk unreduced, 
and the broken condition of cob, which makes it difficult to 
preserve it. 

Blending foods mechanically. — Foods are frequently 
blended in what may be termed the mechanical sense, in or- 
der to insure a larger consumption of those which, though 
plentiful are less palatable than the foods blended with them. 
The utilization for food of the straw of cereals and of corn 
and sorghum stalks, may not be a question of much mo- 
ment at the present time in many parts of the United States, 
but the time is coming and is not very far distant, when in 
none of the states will such products be destroyed as now, 
as the best means of getting rid of them. 

Where the supplies of hay are scarce and of fodders 
plentiful, when both are run through a cutting box and 
mixed before being fed, a much larger consumption of straw 



PREPARING FOODS FOR FEEDING 363 

or of corn or sorghum stalks will be secured, than if these 
foods had not been so prepared. In this way, animals at 
rest may be carried through the entire winter season on rel- 
atively cheap food. Even in the absence of hay, when pulped 
roots are mixed with cut straw and other coarse fodders, 
results equally good, if not indeed superior, will follow, de- 
pendent upon the proportion of field roots fed. Should the 
dry food thus mixed be dampened, as by sprinkling, in the 
absence of field roots and a small amount of meal sprinkled 
in during the process of dampening and mixing, the con- 
sumption will be further increased. Where molasses is 
cheap, the addition of a small amount of this ingredient will 
tend much to add to the palatability of the food and, there- 
fore, to increase the possible consumption of coarse fodders. 

Food prepared as outlined above, has special adapta- 
tion to the needs of cattle and horses. It is not so well 
adapted to the needs of sheep, as they are more expert than 
cattle or horses in rejecting portions even of the cut food 
that may not suit them, but even with sheep, the relative 
consumption of cheap foods may thus be greatly increased. 
Similarly the consumption of dry fodders by swine, as clo- 
ver and alfalfa, may be much increased by chaffing the fod- 
der, adding meal to the mixture and then cooking it by 
boiling or steaming. Thus, also, the proportion of field 
roots or tubers may be increased. 

The following method of preparing food for ruminants 
is common in some portions of Ontario. Hay and 
straw or fodders are chaffed, pulped and mixed in a 
feed room conveniently situated. The chaffing and 
pulping are done simultaneously that the mixing of the 
food may be as desired. Enough is prepared at one time 
to last for several days. The fermentation which follows 
tends to soften the fodder. Meal is added proportioned to 
the needs of the various animals as the food is fed. This 
method of feeding is economical of food and is eminently 
adapted to the needs of cattle, sheep and horses. 



364 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Much of what has been said appHes mainly to the feed- 
ing of animals at rest. Should performance be sought from 
them as in the production of increase in meat or the pro- 
duction of milk or labor, it will usually be necessary to add 
concentrated food to make up for the deficiency in the 
nutrients. 

It should also be borne in mind that a large proportion 
relatively of the nutrients in straw and coarse fodders are 
relatively low in digestibility. Because of this, it would be 
easily possible so to tax the energies of the system by feed- 
ing so large a proportion of such foods, that the most de- 
sirable results would not follow. This, however, is much 
less likely to occur with animals that are being simply car- 
ried through the winter at rest. 

Blending foods chemically. — The mechanical blend- 
ing of foods discussed in the preceding section did not in 
any sense consider the chemical blending of the same, and 
yet the aim should be so to blend them, that the ration shall 
be in at least approximate balance. For instance, when cut 
hay is added to the cut straw of the small cereals, or to cut 
corn or the sorghum stalks, the aim should be to add clover 
or other leguminous hay, as the straw of these are carbo- 
naceous. Likewise, when molasses is added, the aim should 
be to make the addition when practicable to a mixture of 
cut fodders relatively rich in protein, as, for instance, when 
composed largely of pea straw. Field roots go well with 
straws rich in carbohydrates especially when fed in con- 
siderable quantities. Steamed potatoes and clover or alfalfa 
also go well together when fed to growing swine. In the 
absence of the clover or alfalfa, meal rich in protein should 
be fed. When meal is added to enrich the ration for cattle, 
sheep and horses, a due regard should always be had to the 
character of the fodder. Usually it will be advantageous to 
add meal rich in protein to mixtures composed mainly of 
straw fodders or of corn or sorghum stalks. 

The proportions in which these shall be added cannot 
be discussed here. The aim, of course, should be to feed 



PREPARING FOODS FOR FEEDING 365 

them so that the ration shall be in approximate balance, 
and yet there may be good reasons for feeding a ration 
not strictly in balance (see p. 187). The nature of the ad- 
ditions will, of course, be dependent on the ration. Where 
leguminous fodders are plentiful, the balancing of the ra- 
tion is usually much easier than when the opposite is true, 
owing to the fact that the great food grain, corn, is so rich 
in carbonaceous elements. 

Soaking food for stock. — The value of soaking food 
for stock will depend on the kind of food, the kind of stock 
to which it is to be fed, and the object sought from feeding 
it. As a rule food is seldom soaked when fed to horses, 
cattle or sheep, but is very frequently soaked when prepar- 
ing it for swine. 

It would seem correct to affirm that green fodders are 
never soaked to prepare them for being fed to live stock, 
and the same is generally true of dry fodders, but to this 
there are some exceptions. When horses are hard at work, 
it has, at least in some instances, been found advantageous 
to feed meal on chafifed and moistened hay, as when so fed 
the food could be more quickly consumed, that is, more of 
it could be consumed during the limited time allotted to 
horses for feeding, especially during the noon hour. With 
cattle, no such necessity exists. When fodder is fed dry, 
as compared with feeding it soaked, it is usually preferred 
by cattle and also by sheep, and it is amply softened in the 
various processes of digestion. Such food, however, will 
better answer the end sought in feeding swine if it is first 
soaked or steamed. Field roots and tubers also being of the 
nature of green fodders, are not soaked preparatory to 
feeding them, but in many instances cereals are soaked 
either in the unground form or as meal, more especially 
when fed to swine. 

Grain of any kind is seldom soaked for horses or cattle, 
and the same is true of meal. Bran is sometimes made into a 
mash for horses by adding water, frequently hot, and stirring 



366~ FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

until it is all moistenea. They can eat such food more read- 
ily, and so fed it may have a more laxative effect with them. 
It was believed at one time that meal moistened and even 
fed as slop to dairy cows tended to increase the yields of 
milk. It cannot be said that tests made to determine the 
question sustain this belief. Corn is in some instances 
soaked before feeding it both to cattle and swine. When 
long fed on dry ear corn, soreness of the mouth may arise. 
In such instances the corn should be shelled and soaked for 
not less than 12 hours, except when the weather is unusu- 
ally warm. Under normal conditions, the increase from 
corn soaked 24 hours and fed to swine is much the same as 
when dry. All the small cereal grains are made more easy 
of digestion for swine by soaking them from 12 to 48 hours, 
but usually the results are more satisfactory when they arc* 
first ground before soaking them. When thus prepared, 
there is practically no waste in feeding. None of the food 
escapes undigested, as when feeding it whole, and a larger 
consumption of food is usually secured. 

From what has been said, it is apparent that when food 
is soaked or moistened before feeding it to cattle and 
horses, the objects sought are specific rather than general, 
and that they are thus fed more because of the exigencies 
present in the feeding than because of the more favorable 
influence which, as such, they exercise on digestion. It is 
different with swine. They digest more perfectly food thus 
prepared. There are times, however, when almost any kintl 
of a cereal may be fed to swine unground in limited quan- 
tities, as when fed to brood sows in winter on a hard sur- 
face. 

Cooking xOOv- .or stock. — Years ago the cooking of 
food for live stock was thought to be helpful to its diges- 
tion. Because of the prevalence of this view, large 
steaming plants were erected in various centers where it 
was proposed to steam practically all the dry food 
fed to cattle before it was fed. Usually it was first run 
tlirough a cutting box and then mixed with meal, and fed 



PREPARING FOODS FOR FEEDING 367 

directly to the stock. The fact that the practice has been 
virtually discarded is pretty certain evidence that it did not 
I'rove profitable. This is in agreement with the results ob- 
tained from the tests conducted by the experiment stations 
and it is all the more surprising in the face of the strong 
claims put forth even by some of the scientists of for- 
mer generations as to its value. In some of the tests made, 
the cooking of the food seemed to reduce rather than to en- 
hance its digestibility. This was true more especially of the 
protein, hence the adverse effects were most pronounced in 
foods rich in protein. 

Until recent years this practice was common with the 
exhibitor of cattle to prepare the food for them by chaf- 
fing the hay, and after adding meal, to pour over the mass 
while still hot, such food as boiled peas. The box or trough 
containing the food was then covered and the mass allowed 
to steam. It was believed that such food added to the mel- 
lowness of the flesh and probably with some reason. It is 
pretty certain, however, that it does not add to the increase 
made, and it does add materially to the cost of feeding. In 
these facts it is probable that the explanation lies for dis- 
carding, at least to a great extent, such feeding during re- 
cent years. 

years ago it was matter of common belief that grain 
food fed to swine would give better results if fed in the 
cooked rather than in the soaked form. This explains why 
cooking such food was so common in those days. But ex- 
periments conducted at the experiment stations have rudely 
shattered this belief. They have shown that, as a rule, 
cooked meal does not produce greater gains than soaked 
meal. Nevertheless, under some conditions, as when the 
cooked meal may be fed warm in cold weather, the cooked 
food is superior to the other. The added value, however, 
arises rather from the warming effect which the food has 
upon the system than from any superior digestibility which 
it possesses. Under such conditions, the profit from cook- 
ing food may be considerable. It is also true that certain 



368 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

grains, as barley and speltz, will give better returns wlien 
cooked or steamed than when fed dry. 

Certain vegetable substances may be improved as food 
for swine by cooking them, for the reason first, that they 
are rendered more digestible and second, that thus pre- 
pared, they will be consumed in larger quantities. Pota- 
toes are of the former class. Fed alone, they are an indif- 
ferent food for swine, but when cooked and fed along with 
meal in the form of a mash, they furnish a cheap food for 
growing swine, viewed from the standpoint of the food nu- 
trients. Alfalfa and clover, when chaffed and mixed with 
meal, with or without vegetables, makes a good food for 
growing swine and for brood sows. A limited amount of 
boiled grain, especially barley, possesed of much water rel- 
atively, poured over cut fodder to soften it, and then fed to 
horses while still warm two or three times a week, will have 
a helpful influence on the digestive tract when the horses 
are on dry feed. Whether the additional labor and cost of 
fuel will justify such feeding, must be determined by the 
conditions under which the work is done. There can be no 
doubt, however, about the utility of the practice of boiling 
hay and feeding the extract thus obtained to calves when 
the milk supply is not sufficient to meet their needs. 



PART IV. 

The more important of the considerations that relate to 
successful feeding are discussed in Part IV. These consider- 
ations have not the strength of law and yet they are so im- 
portant that they cannot be ignored by the successful 
grower and feeder of live stock. The benefits from having 
correct type in the animals to be fed and from feeding a 
balanced ration based on a wise selection of foods, will be 
discounted in proportion as these considerations are 
ignored. 

They are discussed as outlined below : Chapter XVII 
dwells upon considerations that relate to meat production; 
Chapter XVIII on those that relate to milk production ; 
Chapter XIX on those that relate to general feeding ; Chap- 
ter XX on those that relate to the care of animals ; and 
Chapter XXI on considerations that are miscellaneous in 
character. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

CONSIDERATIONS THAT RELATE TO MEAT 
PRODUCTION. 

Prominent among the considerations that relate to 
meat production are the following : 

1. Increase at different ages. 

2. Increase during finishing period. 

3. Leading up to full feeding. 

4. Food consumed and increase. 

5. Cost of increase. 

6. Gains when fattening not worth their cost. 

7. Duration of finishing period. 

8. Season for marketing. 

9. IMarketing when ripe. 

10. Shipping finished animals. 

11. Loss of weight in marketing. 

12. Feeding in stalls, sheds or yards. 

13. Finishing animals on pasture. 

14. Financial returns from purchased feeders. 

15. Baby beef. 

16. Winter lambs. 

17. Growing bacon. 

These are discussed in the order in which they are 
given. 

Increase at different ages. — It has been stated previ- 
ously (see p. 64), that with the exception of swine dur- 
ing the nursing period, and for some time subsequent to it, 
domestic animals may be made to increase more rapidly the 
nearer to the birth period the gains are made. The greater 
practical importance of this question and the bearing which 
it has upon profits, is a sufficient justification for enlarging 
u])on it. 

The figures now submitted approximate the increase in 
weight that may be obtained from the different classes of 



yj2 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

domestic animals at different ages : It has been founa easily- 
possible to secure 2 pounds of increase per day, not in- 
cluding the birth weight, from cattle of the large breeds at 
the age of one year. During the second year it requires 
careful feeding to secure an average increase of one and 
three-fourths pounds per day, and during the third year, 
equally careful feeding to secure an increase of one and 
one-fourth to one and one-half pounds per day. In other 
words, 730 pounds of increase can be secured as readily as 
639 pounds of further increase the second year, and as, say 
504 pounds the third year. It would be approximately cor- 
rect to say that lambs of the medium-sized mutton breeds 
of sheep, if well nourished, will make a daily gain of 0.7 
pound during the first month ; 0.6 pound during the first 
three months ; 0.45 pound during the second three ; 0.3 
pound during the third three and 0.25 pound during the 
fourth three. In other words, including the birth weight, 
the lamb will attain to a weight of 21 pounds at one month, 
and of 54 pounds at three months. During the second period 
it will gain 40.5 pounds, 27 pounds during the third, and 
2.2y2 during the fourth, at which time the weight will be 
144 pounds. The subsequent gains will gradually decrease 
until the animal is mature. With well sustained swine of 
the middle breeds, it would be approximately correct to say 
that during the first 70 days of growth, about the average 
suckling period, the pigs would make an average daily m- 
crease of say 0.6 pound ; during the second period of 70 
days, one pound, and during the third, one and one-half 
pounds. In other words, they would make an increase dur- 
ing the first period, including the birth weight, of 42 
pounds, 70 pounds during the second period, and 105 
pounds during the third, when they would weigh 217 
pounds at the age of seven months. The daily gains would 
probably be maintained and possibly increased for a month 
or two longer, after which they would decline until matu- 
rity was reached. 



MEAT PRODUCTION T,y7^ 

The figures submitted are based on the supposition 
that the animals are fed to their full capacity on suitable 
foods, but without excessive forcing. It pre-supposes that 
the foods fed are suitable for the production of the highest 
average gains that may ordinarily be looked for from such 
feeding. But in practice, such feeding is seldom followed 
during the entire period of growing and rearing the ani- 
mal. In fact, it is never followed except when very high 
quality meat is sought from animals that are disposed of at 
ages less advanced than animals of the same class usually 
reach the market. This, however, does not apply to swine 
to the same extent as to sheep and cattle, more especially 
the latter. In a great majority of instances, during what 
is termed the growing period, animals are sustained on food 
less costly than that given during the period of feeding 
milk which precedes it, and the fattening period which fol- 
lows. Such foods include pasture and coarse fodders, much 
of which, if not consumed thus, would be wasted. 

The conditions amid which animals are grown, will 
therefore, have a markedly important influence on increase 
in the same, as it actually occurs in practice. If animals are 
grown so as to make only moderate gains during the grow- 
ing period, and if they are then put upon a finishing ration, 
the gains made will, of course, exceed those made at a 
younger age. This, however, does not affect the contention 
that the possible capacity to make gains is greater before 
than during the finishing period. 

The statement is sometimes made that the capacity to 
make increase in weight is a question of type and not of 
breed. The statement is only partially correct. It is to 
some extent a question of breed, and also to some extent 
a question of individuality within both breed and type. 
Take, for instance, two lambs of the Southdown and Hamp- 
shire Down breeds. Push the growth of both on a suitable 
forcing ration until they reach the age of 12 months. It 
would seem correct to say that the inherent capacity to 
make increase in a Hampshire Down lamb would carry him 



374 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

to a weight of i6o pounds as readily as inherent capacity 
in the Southdown would carry him to a weight of 120 
pounds at the age named. The same hne of reasoning will 
apply to all the large and small breeds of beef and dairy cat- 
tle, the large and small breeds of sheep, and the large and 
small breeds of swine. But it is more than probable that 
the difference in the capacity of the large and small breeds 
to make increase, lessens as the birth period is approached, 
and widens as it is receded from. 

Nor is it true that increase in weight during the finish- 
ing period is almost wholly a question of type. Individual- 
ity within type exercises an influence on capacity to make 
increase only secondary to that exercised by type. Animals 
of similar conformation not infrequently show a difference 
in capacity to make increase that exceeds 50 per cent, 
though fed alike. It will also be found true that animals of 
the small dairy breeds of cattle aiid oi some breeds of sheep, 
as the American Merino, will have less average capacity for 
making increase under prolonged feeding than heavier* 
breeds of cattle and sheep, and the same is true, also, of 
large and small breeds of swine. Capacity to make gains, 
therefore, is influenced by age, breed and individuality. 

Increase during the finishing period. — The increase 
made during the finishing period and also the rate at which 
it is made is determined by such conditions as the follow- 
ing: (i) The age of the animals; (2) their condition as to 
flesh when put on feed; (3) the nature of the previous feed- 
ing; (4) the character of the food fed; (5) the intensity of 
the feeding and (6) the duration of the feeding period. 

That animals of uncompleted growth have capacity 'to 
make larger increase than those whose growth is com- 
pleted is in a sense self-evident. The latter can only make 
increase by putting on fat, whereas the former make it by 
additional growth as well as by laymg on fat. They may 
also be expected to make it more cheaply by that law of de- 
velopment which claims that increase can be made more 
rapidly and cheaply, the nearer to the birth period that it 
is made. 



MF.AT rKODUCTION 375 

It is also evident tliat animals that are low in flesh or 
carry but a moderate amount when put on feed, and whose 
digestion has not been impaired, will make more gain under 
prolonged feeding than animals in good flesh, but not really 
fat when put on feed. They will also usually make such 
gains more rapidly and for the reason among others that in 
the system there is more room for increase. 

But increase during the fattening period is increased or 
retarded by the nature of the diet given previous to its 
commencement. The system must be brought into what 
may be termed a sappy condition, that is, a condition in 
which the fluids of the body are abundant before gains 
can be rapid. It must be amply stocked with circula- 
tory protein. It has been found that swine, for instance, 
grown largely on succulent pasture such as alfalfa or rape, 
will make subsequent increase more rapidly than swine 
equal in weight that had been fed chiefly on grain. Some 
foods that cannot be classed as being in themselves fatten- 
ing foods are, nevertheless, highly useful in putting the 
system in a condition for fattening. Such are field roots 
and various other succulent and nutritious foods. 

The character of the food as to its constituents, influ- 
ences gains in a marked degree. The largest increase may be 
expected from foods fed in balance, and that balance will 
vary with the needs of the animal. An animal of incom- 
pleted growth, for instance, requires more of protein in 
the food than one of completed growth. When fattening 
only is wanted without growth, this will be best attained 
by a ration as rich in carbohydrates as may be safely fed 
for the purpose sought. 

Intense feeding, that is, feeding a large propor- 
tion of concentrates to the roughage and concentrates 
rich in the nutrients that aid in producing fat, will 
produce the most rapid gains when properly fed, though 
not necessarily the most economical gains. Such feeding 
also tends to shorten the period in which gains are made. 



376 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

The richer the ration and the more intense the feeding, 
the shorter will be the period for making gains, for then 
that condition of the system is sooner reached when quick 
increase is not possible. Such feeding judiciously done, 
insures more rapid increase for a time than more moderate 
feeding, but it also makes increase slower when the feeding 
is in any sense prolonged. 

The daily increase secured does not necessarily vary 
greatly until the period is approached when animals under 
judicious feeding are coming near that condition of finisii 
known as ripeness (see p. 389). Then it decreases, it may 
be gradually at first, but with accelerated quickness the 
longer the feeding is continued, and would at length reach 
a point when further increase would altogether cease. 

The daily gains made will vary with the variations men- 
tioned above. They are usually from the nature of things 
most rapid during short periods of forced fattening. When 
good cattle well grown are on feed for 150 days, the aver- 
age gain for the entire period should be one and one-half 
to 2 pounds per day. The average will not be more 
than one and one-third pounds. Young animals not yet 
grown, with most careful and suitable feeding may make 
an increase of 2 pounds per day or even more than that 
amount. Cattle fed large amounts of corn for 100 to 120 
days may increase even more rapidly, but usually such gains 
are relatively costly when corn is dear. Aged animals usu- 
ally make a less gain than one and three-quarters pounds 
daily. Lambs of good types between six and 12 months 
when fed for 100 to 120 days will make a daily gain under 
normal conditions' of fattening of 0.3 pound or 9 pounds a 
month. With all the conditions favorable an increase of 
12 pounds may be made, but such gains are exceptional. 
Ordinarily lambs will not gain more than 0.25 
pound daily or yY-2 pounds per month. On rape pasture 
the gains should be 10 pounds per month. Mature 
wethers may gain as quickly as lambs, but the rate 
of increase will not be so lonaf maintained. Swine 



MEAT PRODUCTION 377 

when fed for 60 to 75 days should make an average daily 
gain of one and one-fourth to one and one-half pounds, 
providing they are not of less weight than 150 pounds 
when the fattening season begins. In a few instances a gain 
of 2 pounds per day has been made. 

Leading up to full feeding, — With reference to this 
question, it may be said : ( i ) That animals which are 
somewhat thin in flesh cannot be fattened quickly for some 
time after the commencement of the fattening period, how- 
soever suitable and liberal the feeding may be; (2) that 
when such animals are first put on a fattening ration, they 
are not capable of digesting quantities of concentrated 
foods so large as at a later period and (3) that in conse- 
quence, it is necessary to bring them up gradually to 
what is termed full feeding, which means, feeding all the 
concentrates and roughage that the animals can digest and 
assimilate after having been given gradually increasing 
quantities of concentrates from the commencement of the 
fattening period onward. 

As explained by Dr. H. P. Armsby in the "Manual of. 
Cattle Feeding," cattle that are much reduced in flesh and 
fat cannot be fattened quickly until they are first brougb.t 
into a well nourished condition. The animal body must 
first contain a sufficient amount of organized and circula- 
tory protein, without which it cannot digest, resorb and 
store up protein and fat. To bring about this condition 
it is most economical usually to feed freely some legumin- 
ous fodder, as clover or alfalfa hay. This, however, may 
be supplemented with some grain or by-product, or the 
two combined, also reasonably rich in protein. Such foods as 
oats and bran, or oats and oil cake are well adapted to such 
feeding. The aim should be to feed foods that will give a 
nutritive ratio of say i :5.5. Such food increases the stock of 
circulatory protein, and thus paves the way for laying on 
fat. 

When fattening begins, animals are not capable of di- 
gesting and assimilating large quantities of grain, for the 



3/8 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

reason chiefly, that the digestive system requires time to 
accommodate itself to the changes of food, and also to the 
additional tax put upon it. All changes should be gradually 
made (see p. 459). Digestion and assimilation in a certain 
direction become strengthened by use or repetition. It is 
evident that animals accustomed to grain previously can 
be more quickly led up to a full ration than those to which 
it has never been fed. In some instances, as when growing 
baby beef, so much grain is being fed all the while, that 
the difference in the respective amounts fed before and 
during the finishing period is not marked. It is more a 
difference in kind than of quantity, and the same is true of 
cows that are fattened at once, when they cease to give 
milk. If undue haste is shown in putting animals on full 
feed, the digestion becomes deranged, and time is lost in 
recovering digestive tone, while in some instances it is never 
again fully restored. 

The time required to bring the different classes of 
animals up to full feed varies. It is longest in the case of 
cattle and shortest in that of swine, in keeping with the 
time required in finishing the different classes. It varies 
also with the condition of the animals and as to whether 
they were given grain previously, and especially when the 
finishing period began. When cattle are lean and unused 
to grain, from 3 to 4 pounds would suffice at the first. 
This may usually be increased at the rate of say one 
and one-half to 2 pounds per week, for four to six weeks 
according to the kind of grain fed and the duration of the 
fattening period. The less concentrated the grain fed and 
the shorter the prospective period for feeding, the more 
quickly may the animals be brought up to full feed, and 
vice versa. As the fattening progresses, the grain fed is 
usually increased in the degree of its concentration up to 
a certain limit. 

Sheep and lambs that have not had grain previously 
may be given say from one-fourth to one-third of a pound 
of grain daily at the first, preferably oats or mainly so. 



MEAT PRODUCTION 379 

and this may be increased at the rate of one-third of a 
pound per week from three to six weeks, according to the 
kinds of food fed, the age of the animals and the probable 
duration of the feeding period. As with cattle, the grain 
fed may be more concentrated as the fattening progresses. 
Swine may usually be led up to a full grain ration 
much more quickly than cattle and sheep. This is owing 
to the fact, first, that grain has probably been fed to them 
all along, and second, that before the final fattening be- 
gins, they have probably been given not less than half a 
full grain ration. In but few instances, therefore, is it 
necessary to take more than one to two weeks to bring 
them up to a full grain ration. 

Food consumed and increase. — The relation between 
the food consumed and the increase from it widens from 
birth to maturity, that is, the more advanced the age of the 
animal, the greater is the amount of the food required to 
make the increase. That it should be so is the outcome, 
first, of the more active character of the digestive and 
assimilative organs near the birth period; and second, of 
the increase called for in the food of maintenance as the 
animals grow older. That it should be so is what may be 
expected from the gradual decrease in relative gains in 
cattle and sheep, as the birth period is receded from. But 
it has also been found true with swine, where the daily in- 
crease is less rapid during the first three or four months 
than subsequently. 

With cattle and sheep it is not easy to draw the com- 
parison between relative increase and the amount of food 
used in making it, between animals that are being grown 
and those that are being fattened, owing to the difference 
in the relative proportion of grain and concentrates fed 
to these. It is much easier to draw the comparison as to 
relative cost, and the difference in cost may be taken as 
an approximate basis, but not an exact basis of the differ- 
ence in the amounts of food consumed. In "Profitable 



380 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Stock Feeding," Prof. H. K. Smith states, that in six dif- 
ferent trials made with cattle, each 100 pounds of increase 
made during the first 12 months cost $3.45, during the 
second 12, $7.42, and during the third 12, $11.50. At the 
Kansas experiment station it was found that steers which 
were being fattened consumed 730 pounds of grain for 
every 100 pounds of increase made during the first 56 days 
of feeding. During the entire period of feeding which 
covered 182 days, they consumed 1,000 pounds of the same, 
which was an increase of practically 37 per cent. The 
testimony of other experiments is in keeping with the above. 

The average results from several trials in feeding- 
lambs which weighed approximately 75 pounds when put 
on feed, show that to make 100 pounds of increase calls 
for approximately 500 pounds of grain and 400 pounds of 
hay. To make similar increase with shearlings it has been 
found that from 25 to 45 per cent more food was required. 
Similar is the trend of testimony of the American Fat stock 
shows. Unfortunately, however, some of the testimonies 
from these must be accepted with much caution, as for in- 
stance the statement that in 1881, a Southdown lamb shown 
weighed 213 pounds at the age of 213 days, which means 
that up to that age it had made a daily gain of 0.9 pound. 

In Denmark many experiments have been conducted 
by the Copenhagen station which throw light upon the 
relative amounts of grain or its equivalent, consumed by 
swine of dififerent ages in order to make 100 pounds of in- 
crease. A large number of animals was included in these 
experiments. The results showed that pigs weighing 35 
to 75 pounds consumed 376 pounds of such food when 
making 100 pounds' of gain, while pigs weighing 195 to 
235 pounds consumed 543 pounds to make the same. The 
average results from a number of experiments conducted 
in America show that with swine not more than 50 pounds 
in weight, 100 pounds of increase may be made from each 
300 pounds of grain and grain equivalents fed, while with 
pigs from 200 to 250 pounds, about 500 pounds of the sam^ 
were required to make similar increase. 



MEAT PRODUCTION 38 1 

Of course the relative amounts of grain consumed by 
animals, both when growing and during the finishing 
period, will be influenced by the amount of coarse fodder 
fed, whether fed in the green or dry form. The assumption 
is safe, nevertheless, that to finish animals properly on 
grain, the amount of the same required increases, first, with 
increase in the age of the animals, and second, with the 
continuance and prolongation of the fattening period. This, 
however, does not make it certain that long periods of feed- 
ing will be attended with less profit. That will only follow 
in instances where the degree of the finish is not superior 
in character. 

Cost of increase. — It has been shown that animals as 
a rule make gains more slowly as the birth period is re- 
ceded from (see p. 371). It has also been shown, that 
notwithstanding the slower gains, more food relatively and 
absolutely is consumed in making them, and that this al^o 
applied to the fattening period (see p. 379). It naturally 
follows, therefore, that the cost of increase is greater as the 
birth period is receded from, and as the fattening period 
advances. But to this there are some exceptions, especially 
during the growing period, as is shown below. 

Many instances, all based on experiment, may be cited 
to show increasing cost in the gains made with increasing 
age. The following only can be given here : At the Wis- 
consin experiment station, it was found that with animals 
up to the age of 12 months, 100 pounds of beef, live weight, 
cost $4.20, while with the same animals during the next 
12 months, it cost $6.13. At the Massachusetts station, 
with animals in the two-year iorm, 100 pounds of beef, live 
weight, cost $7.49, and with the same animals in the three- 
year form, it cost $12.38. At the Iowa experiment station 
lambs that were fattened cost $3.61 for every 100 pounds of 
live increase made, and wethers on the same feed cost $5.33 
for each loo pounds of the same. At the Wisconsin experi- 
ment station, swine which averaged 222 pounds when put 
on feed consumed 418 pounds of meal to make 100 pounds 



^82 FEEDINC. PAR.\[ ANIMALS 

of increase the first four weeks of feeding, 461 pounds the 
second four, and 559 pounds the third four. The difference 
in relative cost was proportionate. 

Under some conditions, however, it is possible to make 
100 pounds of increase more cheaply at some distance from 
the birth period, and also from the commencement of the 
fattening period, than earlier. The growing of young 
animals, especially cattle, during the milk period, is more 
costly relatively than at a later period, because of the 
difference in the relative value of the foods. Milk and 
grain furnish the principal portion of the food of young 
animals for a time. Later they are usually maintained on 
coarser and cheaper foods, more especially on pasture. One 
hundred pounds of increase may, therefore, be made more 
cheaply on the coarser food thus given, because of its 
relative cheapness, notwithstanding the increase in the 
amount consumed. Likewise when cattle are partly fat- 
tened on dry food and are then finished on grass or grass 
and grain, the increase made on the latter may be made 
more cheaply than that made before turning out on grass. 
At the Iowa experiment station, it was found that from 
March to May, covering 92 days, steers fed on a ration of 
corn meal, oil meal, hay and roots, made 100 pounds of 
increase at a cost of $5.93. The same steers maintained 
for a similar period immediately following on a ration 
of corn meal and clover pasture made similar increase at a 
cost of $4.31. 

The cost of increase varies with variations in the cost 
of food. Because of this, the same class of meat will 
cost much more in one locality than another. It has been 
estimated that during recent years the cost of making 100 
pounds of increase during the fattening period was from 
$2 to $3 more than the cost of the same in the Mississippi 
states. 

Gains when fattening not worth their cost. — During 
the finishing period, the increase made is more or less in- 
fluenced by the following conditions, viz: (i) The in- 
dividuality of the animal; (2) the stage in development at 



MEAT PRODUCTION 383 

which the fattening begins; (3) the amount of flesh carried 
at tlie tin.e; (4) the cost of the foods used; (5) the char- 
acter of the feeding and finish made and (6) the relative 
value of the fertihzer resulting. 

Individuality is a most potent influence in hastening or 
retarding increase. That it is so is shown in the fact that 
two animals of similar age and fed alike will differ greatly 
in the gains made, though consuming practically the same 
amount of food. This difference sometimes exceeds 50 
per cent 

The stage in development at which fattening begins 
influences the cost, first, by the greater relative increase 
made by animals that are not yet matured, by the less 
amount of food required to make these gains, and by the 
greater relative cost of maintenance in mature animals. 
It follows, therefore, that immature animals should make 
greater and cheaper gains than those that are mature. 

The less flesh that animals carry when the fattening 
begins, providing leanness is not carried to the point of 
weakening the bodily functions, the more they will in- 
crease in weight, for the reason that there is more room 
for such increase. But of course the less flesh carried 
when fattening begins, the more prolonged must be the 
period of fattening, a fact which may go far to offset the 
consideration first named when purchasing animals for 
fattening. 

No influence is more potent in determining relative 
cost of increase in fattening than the relative cost of the 
foods fed. It will be at once apparent without argument 
that with the same foods, cost in the gains made will fluctu- 
ate with cost in the foods fed. 

Forced feeding beyond a certain degree will result in 
a waste of food. On the other hand under-feeding will result 
in loss through increased cost in the food of maintenance. 
Reasonably liberal feeding, therefore, is likely to give the 
best results. The character of the finish influences cost of 
increase so far as it influences the price paid for the fin- 
ished product. 



384 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

The value of the fertiUzer made is a factor of much 
importance in some locaUties, in other places it is not an 
important consideration. While of course it does not in- 
fluence gains, it does influence profits, and just in proportion 
to the grade of the fertilizer made and the relative value 
of the same in the locality. 

Usually the increase during the fattening period 
costs more than it will sell for in the market. This gener- 
ally holds true in fattening cattle, sheep and swine, but to 
a less degree probably in swine than in the other classes 
named. Such increase in fattening mature cattle usually 
costs not less than i to 3 cents per pound more than it will 
sell for in the market. But to this there are some ex- 
ceptions as when the price of foods is relatively low and 
that of meat relatively high. The same is true also in many 
instances of growing baby beef, under normal conditions 
because of the quick gains made by the animals. The 
testimony, however, of nearly all experiments in fattening 
live stock in this country have shown that the cost of in- 
crease during the fattening season has been greater than 
the cost of the food. 

Wherein is the profit from fattening live stock under 
such conditions ? It arises from the increase in the value 
of each pound of the live weight of the animal when the 
fattening began. Suppose, for instance, that a steer is 
purchased and put on feed. Suppose that he weighs 1,200 
pounds live weight and costs 4 cents per pound ; suppose that 
the increase in weight from six months feeding is 300 
pounds, each pound of which costs 6 cents to make it. The 
steer when finished is sold for 5 cents per pound live weight. 
Allowing the manure made to ofifset the cost of feeding 
and other incidental expenses, the transaction will stand as 
follows : $75 the selling price when finished, less 
$48 the purchase price, less $18 the cost of increase 
during fattening, leaves $9 as the net profit 
from the transaction. But what of the cost of grow- 
ing the steer up to the time of fattening? It should 



MEAT PRODUCTION 385 

be considerably less than 4 cents per pound, lor, if grown 
on the range, he would be grown virtually on free pasture. 
If grown under extensive farm conditions he would be 
grown largely on cheap pastures. If grown under more 
intensive conditions he would be grown largely on coarse 
and cheap foods. 

Duration of the finishing period. — Since, during the 
finishing period, the cost of increase made during its con- 
tinuance seldom equals in value the cost of the food used in 
making it, the time covered by this period becomes a 
question of prime importance to the feeder. Its profitable 
duration will be influenced by such considerations as : ( i ) 
The condition as to flesh of the animals when the feeding 
period begins; (2) the character of the food fed; (3) the 
intensity of the feeding; (4) the relative cost of the food; 

(5) the season of the year when the finishing occurs, and 

(6) capacity in the animals for making high finish. 

If animals are in a low condition of flesh when the 
feeding period begins, it is manifest that a proportionately 
longer period must elapse before they can be profitably 
sent to the block, than if they were in good flesh at 
the same time. Animals low in flesh when fatten- 
ing begins cannot be brought to a high degree of 
finish in a short time. The digestive powers can adjust 
themselves only giadually to the changed conditions of 
feeding, and the same is true of the assimilative powers. 
This is shown in the fact that animals will digest and ap- 
propriate much larger quantities of concentrated food 
without injury when on what is termed "full feed," than 
when the feeding period begins (see p. yjj^. In some 
instances, as in making baby beef sold under the age of two 
years, the feeding has been of such a high character all 
along, that the transition to what may be termed the finish- 
ing period is scarcely discernible through any increase in 
feed (see p. 402). 

Some kinds of food bring to a finish much more quickly 
than others, because of their constituents. Corn will fatten 



386 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

animals more quickly probably than any other cereal, and 
when fed in large quantities it will ripen them sooner. A 
ration consisting mainly of roots and grain will not fatten 
so quickly as one consisting mainly of corn and dry fodder. 
Similar differences may be thus shown in various other 
foods used in fattening. 

The intensity of the feeding exercises an important 
influence on the length of the feeding period. Intensity 
of feeding has reference to strong feeding. It means feed- 
ing concentrates rich in nutrients for producing fat, and 
feeding to the full capacity of the animal to take such food. 
But little roughage is fed. Such feeding leads to increase 
more quickly than feeding concentrates less rich, or if rich, 
in moderate quantities, and along with these feeding con- 
siderable quantities of roughage. But it also leads more 
quickly to cessation of profitable increase, and the attendant 
danger is greater that the derangements in digestion will 
be of more frequent occurrence than when feeding is less 
intense. 

The value of foods in relation to meat values should 
always be considered. When food values are high and 
meat values low, the shorter the period of feeding within 
reasonable limits, the greater will be the relative profit. 
Seasons do occur, but usually at rare intervals, when finish- 
ing is not attended with any profit, unless when it can 
be accomplished through some cheap food such as grass. 

Capacity in the animals to make a high finish and 
to furnish a carcass that will command a high price is also 
important. When a steer for instance of dairy form is 
placed upon the market in high finish and sells for more 
than one cent less per pound live weight than the steer of 
orthodox type in equally high finish, it is very evident that 
it will not pay equally well to bring the former to so high 
a finish as the latter. The great advantage in high finish 
from the latter comes from the advance in value which it 
puts upon every pound of the weight possessed when the 
finishing period began (see p. 384). The advance thus 



MEAT PRODUCT lOiV 387 

made in the value of the animal of dairy conformation is 
much less as markets have ruled during recent years, not- 
withstanding that at least as large amounts of food rela- 
tively will be consumed in making it. It is less necessary 
therefore because less advantageous, to feed such animals 
and also aged cows, ewes and sows for long periods, that 
they may thus be brought to a high finish, than to feed 
well furnished animals with the same end in view. But 
a certain amount of feeding with them is necessary, that 
they may bring a respectable price. 

The season of the year at which the finishing period 
draws near should also be duly weighed. If the finishing 
process draws near toward, or at the close of the grazing 
season, it would be better to close it then than to continue it 
only for a short period on food so radically different as a 
change from grass to dry food would involve, or if the finish 
was nearly completed when grass arrives and to complete 
it would involve turning the animals out to grass for a short 
period, it would be better to close it with the end of the 
dry feeding season (see p. 397). 

It will be apparent from the above, that the duration 
of feeding periods cannot be definitely stated so many are 
the conditions that cause them to vary. It may be said, 
however, that cattle can seldom be finished properly in 
less than 120 days, sheep in less than 70 days, and swine 
in less than 40 days, and that high finish seldom calls for 
more than 180 days of feeding with cattle, 120 days with 
sheep and 60 days with swine. More commonly feeders 
err on the side of unduly curtailed feeding, accompanied 
by lack of finish than on that of feeding unduly prolonged 
and accompanied by over-finish. The aim should be to 
bring good animals to high finish, unless there are good 
reasons for not so doing. It has been estimated by competent 
authorities, that from 75 to 90 per cent of the cattle mar- 
keted in the United States are not properly finished. 

Season for marketing. — The grower and feeder of 
live stock should aim as far as it may be practicable to 



388 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

have them ready at that season which will enable them 
to reach the market in the absence of a glut in the same, 
or even in the absence of supplies sufficiently plentiful to 
cause considerable depression in values. The exercise of 
timely forethought will usually make this feasible. 

There are two seasons when the values of the common 
classes of meat are usually low. The first is that period 
covered by the entire season beginning with the middle of 
September, and extending over a considerable portion 
of January following. The second is embraced within the first 
and includes more particularly the holiday season during 
which poultry to a considerable extent substitutes the use 
of other kinds of meat. Only the best classes of beef and 
mutton at such times command good prices relatively. 

Two classes of persons are compelled to sell at such 
seasons. The first is, ranchmen who may be unable to finish 
stock because of the entire absence of finishing foods which 
may not be shipped in because of cost. The surplus stock 
must be disposed of at the approach of or during the au- 
tumn. The second class includes all farmers who may not 
have the necessary food or necessary conveniences to enable 
them to finish surplus stock at home. So large and so 
constant is the supply from these two sources, at the sea- 
sons named, that it has a depressing influence on values. 
But it may be more profitable to market animals, as sheep 
which make a late finish on such foods as rape, at such a 
season, than to attempt to further finish them on dry food 
involving greater relative cost. 

The values of meat are relatively higher at all other 
times of the year than those named, but there are seasons 
that are especially favorable to marketing viewed from 
the standpoint of relatively high values for meat. These 
include the late months of spring and all the summer 
months. But during those months lighter annuals are 
wanted and more especially when the weather becomes 
hot. 



MEAT PRODUCTION 389 

The individual who has high class meat and of weights 
inclining to light at such seasons may expect good values 
for it. But to meet the conditions named requires fore- 
thought all along the line of development, and more es- 
pecially with reference to the duration of the finishing 
period. 

What may be termed timeliness in marketing is of 
much moment to the producer of live stock. Christmas 
beef must be of high quality and ready at the proper season. 
Milk lambs will ordinarily bring higher values in the inter- 
val between Christmas and Easter than at an earlier or a 
later season. When ready earlier they must be sold 
when supplies of meat are excessive. When marketed 
later, they must compete with early spring lambs. Heavy 
weight animals of all kinds usually command the best 
prices when the weather is cool or cold. While light 
weight animals of good finish are in demand at all times, 
they are most prized during the warm season. Swine mar- 
keted in the spring usually sell at higher rates than those 
sold in the fall, but they also cost more to produce them. 

Marketing when ripe. — Ripeness as applied to live 
stock is a relative term. In one sense, it may mean mar- 
keting, when ready to meet the needs of a certain market, 
in the absence of completed growth and even of high finish, 
viewed from the standpoint of the amount of fat carried. 
Winter lambs are ripe when plump and fat at weights 
running from 35 to 45 pounds. Baby beef is ripe, when well 
grown for the age and fat, at weights varying from 900 to 
1200 pounds in the yearling form. Bacon swine are ripe 
when they attain to weights varying from 160 to 220 pounds 
and carry but a moderate amount of fat. In another sense, 
ripeness means that stage of development reached by ani- 
mals that are being fattened, when they become incapable 
of making increase proportionate to the food fed to them. 
This latter is the sense in which the term is more commonly 
used. 



390 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

When animals become thus ripe, it is self-evident that 
further feeding, viewed from the standpoint of increase, 
will be done at a loss, hence the wisdom, under normal 
conditions, of putting them on the market promptly when 
they are ripe. When animals are being fattened, the in- 
crease as a rule is less rapid as the fattening period ad- 
vances, and the cost of making increase continually ad- 
vances. In fattening steers at the Kansas experiment station 
for 182 days, it was found that during the first 56 days, 73c 
pounds of food were required to make 100 pounds of gain, 
while for the whole period 1,000 pounds were required tc 
make the same. At the Wisconsin experiment station, swine 
that were being fattened made 100 pounds of gain during the 
first four weeks from 418 pounds of food, during the second 
four from 461 pounds, and during the third four from 
559 pounds. The average weight at the commencement was 
222 pounds. In an experiment conducted by the author in 
fattening swine, at the Ontario experiment station, 1890-91, 
it was found that during the experiment proper which 
covered 90 days, the cost of making 100 pounds of increase 
was $4.65. The swine were then regarded as finished, but 
they were fed for 47 days longer on the same kind of a 
ration. During this period, the cost of making 100 pounds 
of increase was $14.93. The average weight of the swine, 
when the experiment proper began, was 150 pounds. If 
such feeding is continued long enough, increase will entirely 
cease, and in time retrogression will begin, on the principle, 
that after ripeness, deterioration begins. 

Prominent among the indications of ripeness are a good 
covering of flesh on parts more usually bare, firmness of 
flesh as indicated by resistance to gentle pressure in the 
muscles of the body, and a plumpness of form which reveals 
a finished condition to the practiced eye. The weight scale, 
of course, is the surest indicator of that decrease or cessation 
of growth that accompanies ripeness and the service that it 
may thus render when used judiciously may be very sub- 
stantial. 



MEAT PRODUCTION 39I 

The necessity for selling animals promptly as soon as 
finished should certainly be given due regard. It would 
not seem justifiable to hold them longer in any instance, 
except to avoid marketing in a glut or when advance in price 
within a short time is practically assured. By exercising 
proper forethought, they will be made ready so that they 
may reach the market when prices for such meat are usu- 
ally relatively good. 

Shipping finished animals. — Since live stock have, in 
very many instances, to be shipped long distances to the 
market, both as stockers and in the finished form, and 
since the condition in which they reach the same materially 
influences the sale, it is a matter of much importance to the 
shipper that they reach the place of consignment under con- 
ditions that will be attended with a minimum of shrinkage 
and loss of bloom. To secure these results requires : ( i ) 
That they shall be fed properly in preparing them for ship- 
ment and when in transit; (2) that the transit shall be as 
rapid as possible and (3) that they shall be promptly un- 
loaded and cared for when they reach the place of consign- 
ment. 

Before shipping finished cattle and sheep, the usual 
grain allowance should be reduced gradually and materially, 
for two to three days before shipping, and in transit may 
cease altogether. Hay of good quality should be supplied 
and in quantity as much as they will consume. If they are 
on pasture and also receiving grain, they should be yarded 
a day or two before shipping, and fed hay, the grain al- 
lowance also being reduced. Stockers may be taken from 
well matured pastures and shipped at once. The continued 
full feeding of grain before shipping finished animals, in 
connection with the more than usual amount of exercise, 
and the excitement resulting from changed conditions, is 
much liable to result in scouring. This means much shrink- 
age in weight and a soiled appearance. Bedding should be 
plentifully supplied before loading. Unless driven far before 
loading, in a warm atmosphere, animals will not drink to 
excess when fed as indicated. 



392 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

When loaded, the transit should be as rapid as possible. 
This of course is mainly in the hands of carriers, but it may 
be materially influenced by the choice of season made by the 
shipper, when traffic is not congested. Every additional 
hour spent on tiie road means additional shrinkage, as ani- 
mals will not eat or drink freely when in transit by rail. 
When shipped long distances, the animals will take less 
harm if hurried on to the place of sale, than if the journey 
is prolonged by unloading at feeding stations every 24 
hours. Experience has shown that runs considerably longer 
than 24 hours conduce to the well being of the cattle by 
reducing the time in transit, thus shortening the period of 
privation, notwithstanding the contrary view held by many 
humane societies. Watchfulness is necessary on the part 
of the attendant, especially in case of sheep lest they should 
get down and suffer injury by being trodden on, especially 
in crowded cars. Overcrowding of cars is, of course, a mis- 
take, but no harm comes from filling cars to their full capa- 
city. In shipping long distances weather probabilities 
should be considered at certain seasons. A blizzard may 
cause serious loss in transit, and the same is true of ex- 
cessive heat, especially in the case of swine. 

Delay in unloading is avoided when the animals have 
been consigned to a commission firm when shipped. The 
aim should be to unload them not later than 8 o'clock in the 
morning, before the buyers make their rounds, and hay 
and water should be present in ample supply. Any effort 
to induce the animals to drink excessively by giving salt 
previously or by withholding water, is to be deprecated. 

Loss of weight in marketing. — The extent to whicli 
finished animals shrink in weight on the way to market is 
influenced chiefly : ( i ) By the time occupied in transit ; 
(2) the foods used in fattening and the degree of the 
finish; (3) the age of the animals; (4) the extent to which 
they have been exercised while being fattened and (5) th3 
character of the weather. 



MEAT PRODUCTION 393 

The time occupied in the journey from the feed lot or 
other place of fattening to the market is probably the most 
potent influence in causing shrinkage, even though the ani- 
mals should be rested, fed and watered on the way. This 
arises from the little inclination which they evince to take 
food or water while in transit. The rate of the shrinkage, 
however, decreases with increase in the time occupied hi 
conveyance, as the more prolonged the journey, the less the 
amount of food and water is there in the digestive organs 
to pass out of the system. 

The more succulent the foods used in fattening and 
the less the degree of the finish, the greater will be the loss 
of live weight in transit on the supposition that the animals 
are given fair treatment on the way. Of course if the 
animals were driven to market, the more perfect the finish, 
the greater would be their distress in traveling, and this 
might result in a greater loss in weight. The flesh of ani- 
mals fed watery foods, such as succulent grass and field 
roots, contains a higher per cent of water than that of ani- 
mals brought to high finish on dry foods, and this is more 
readily lost than the fat in the system. 

Young animals lose more in transit relatively than 
animals that are mature and that are possessed of an equal 
degree of finish. This arises first, from the larger per cent 
of water in the system of the former, and second, from the 
greater relative activity of the excretory organs. But this 
tendency may to some extent be counteracted by the greater 
power possessed by young animals to accommodate them- 
selves to disturbing conditions. 

The extent to which animals exercise while being fat- 
tened exerts a marked influence on the shrinkage in transit. 
Cattle finished in yards or feed lots will shrink much less 
than those tied in the stall and given but little or no ex- 
ercise. Wethers fattened on alfalfa hay, wheat, corn and 
roots at the Colorado experiment station shrank 9 per cent 
of the live weight in transit to the Chicago market. Se- 
lected lambs shrank 9.4 per cent, and lighter and more active 
Mexican sheep shrank but 6.5 per cent. 



394 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

The more comfortable the weather is, the less will 
animals lose in transit. Where they must be driven several 
miles to the shipping point the character of the weather is 
of much moment. If it is warm, the journey should be 
made in the night. In the experience of the author, fat 
steers weighing between 1400 and 1500 pounds lost on an 
average 75 pounds each in a journey of 15 miles made ia 
the night. 

While it is not possible to state exactly the amount of 
shrinkage from shipping finished animals, it will be more 
or less of an approximation to say that cattle loaded one 
day, the next day occupied in transit, and the third day sold 
and weighed, will shrink somewhere in the neighborhood of 
5 per cent of the live weight, sheep about 4 per cent and 
swine 4 to 5 per cent. Locally, cattle are sometimes pur- 
chased on the basis of a shrinkage of 4 to 5 per cent on 
the weight in the stall or feed lot. 

Feeding in stalls, sheds or yards. — Looking at th's 
question from the standpoint of theory only, the conclusion 
would be reached that the largest and also the cheapest 
gains would be made from feeding in the stall as, when 
thus fed, the animals are kept absolutely at rest and the 
individual wants of each animal as to food may be exactly 
met. Until recent years, the view was almost universal 
that feeding cattle in the stall would be attended with the 
greater profit. The trend of the results obtained, how- 
ever, from the experiments conducted is rather in the op- 
posite direction. Of course the attempt is never made to 
feed sheep or swine in the stall. The former are almost 
invariably fed In sheds under average farm conditions, and 
are given access to well bedded yards at will. The latter 
are, in nearly all instances, finished in pens under cover, 
and are given access to small yards at will. But both sheep 
and swine are in some instances finished on certain kinds of 
pasture. 

The chief arguments in favor of finisning in the stall 
are the following : ( i ) The food fed can be controlled 



MEAT PRODUCTION 395 

at will. Where it is desired to feed a relatively large pro- 
portion of roughage to concentrates on the ground of econ- 
omy, this is more easily accomplished than when animals 
are fed together in a wholesale way. In such feeding to 
animals, not confined in the stall, the stronger would get 
more than their rightful share of the concentrates, and 
the weaker less. (2) The food can be more perfectly ad- 
justed to the needs of each animal. It frequently happens 
that some variation in the kind and quantity of food fed 
is helpful to the individual animal. This cannot be con- 
trolled when animals are fed loose. (3) The temperature 
can be more perfectly adjusted to the needs of the animals, 
as undue cold may thus be excluded, and in this way un- 
necessary waste avoided. (4) The degree of the exercise 
can be so completely controlled that no energy will be 
thus wasted at the expense of the food. (5) The resultant 
fertilizer can be saved without waste where an ample supply 
of litter is used. 

The chief arguments in favor of finishing in the shed 
or yard are : ( i ) The saving eflFected in the labor of feed- 
ing. This cannot be gainsaid, as the difference equals that 
which results between doing work in a wholesale and retail 
way. (2) The saving in the labor of handling the manure. 
This is an important item. It is to some extent offset under 
certain conditions by the leaching which takes place in open 
yards in times of heavy rainfall, but this may be largely 
prevented by restricting the size of the yards and supplying 
ample litter. Manure made under cover with an ample 
supply of litter by animals at liberty is of the best, as it 
conserves all the liquid portion and does not suffer loss 
readily by excessive fermentation. (3) Experience has 
shown it to result in a majority of instances in larger 
returns absolutely and relatively in proportion to the food 
fed. This reason is very potent. That it is so arises 
probably from the fact that the more exercise taken by the 
animals at liberty causes them to take more food, which 



39& FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

results in greater relative gains through the saving ef- 
fected in the food of maintenance, and probably also 
through the more perfect assimilation of the nutrients. This 
increase is more than sufficient to overcome the increasetl 
loss of bodily heat by the animals that are loose, since they 
are more exposed to the cold. Animals confined are fre- 
quently allowed to become too warm and the discomfort 
resulting is adverse to their gains. 

To secure the best results, however, from feeding cattle 
loose, it would seem correct to say that the following con- 
ditions should all be present : ( i ) They should be horn- 
less, either naturally or made so to prevent bodily injury. 
(2) They should be fed under cover, unless in climates 
quite mild and dry. (3) The concentrated food should be 
fed in mangers in which the animals could be kept in 
place by stanchions adjusted by one movement of a lever 
until the meal is consumed. In this way the amount of 
meal fed could be virtually controlled. Unless fed thus, 
the strong may get more than their rightful share. (4) 
The yards should be small and kept well bedded to avoid 
unnecessary leaching of the manure. The litter should be 
sufficiently ample to prevent discomfort to the animals when 
at rest, either from the presence of frozen lumps or of 
miry or even unduly saturated conditions. 

Finishing animals on pasture. — In the discussion of 
this question the following points necessarily come up for 
consideration : ( i ) The degree of the finish that may be 
expected from pasture alone; (2) the season for finishing 
to secure the greatest profit; (3) the amount of grain that 
may be used with highest profit in supplementing pastures ; 
(4) the relative profit from such finishing and (5) the 
mistake of finishing on sparse pastures. 

The degree of the finish that may be expected from 
pastures is influenced by the character of the pastures and 
duration of the pasturing period. Some pastures furnish 
decidedly more nutriment than others in proportion to the 
food consumed. The short pastures of the western ranges 



MEAT PRODUCTION 397 

are proverbial for their fattening properties. All grass 
pastures are better adapted for finishing when reasonably 
well advanced in growth than earlier in the season, notwith- 
standing that early growth when abundant may produce 
more weight. Grasses alone, therefore, will not produce 
high finish on a period of grazing that does not cover sev- 
eral months. Nor will it give so perfect a finish as when 
grain is fed, as is evidenced in the extent to which range 
cattle are purchased and placed in feed lots for further 
finishing, after having grazed on the ranges during much 
of the entire season. 

The season for finishing to secure the greatest profit 
will, of course, vary with such conditions as the flesh car- 
ried when the grazing begins, the influence of the season 
on growth and on the markets for meat. It would seem 
correct to say that the aim should be to finish grazed cattle 
not later than September, when they have been given a 
grain supplement, and not later than July when they have 
been given a reasonable grain portion from the beginning 
of the previous winter onward. After September the mar- 
kets are frequently over-supplied with meats of somewhat 
inferior ades, which has a depressing influence on the 
same. 

The amount of grain that may be fed with highest 
profit to cattle on pasture will vary with the age of the 
animals, their condition,- the nature of the pasture, and 
the price of grain. The younger the animal up to maturity, 
the leaner when grazing begins, and the more sparse the 
pasture, the greater is the necessity for feeding grain and 
the larger the amount required. The cheaper relatively 
that grain is, of course, the greater is the profit from 
feeding it. Clearly then, it is impossible to formulate any 
hard and fast rules that will serve as infallible guides to 
those who finish animals on grass. The best feeders are 
not in agreement on this question. 

The following conclusions based on the experience of 
practical feeders and on the results of trials made at the 



398 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

experiment stations, would seem to be correct : ( i ) That 
when cattle are turned Out on grass to be finished not 
later than mid-summer, the grain ration given to them 
before the grazing season should be continued, and in- 
creased if necessary. (2) That when cattle are to be 
grazed through the season and sold from off the grass in 
finished form, it is questionable if the grain fed for two or 
three months while the pastures are at their best will give 
an adequate return, viewed from the standpoint of in- 
crease in weight, but as soon as the grasses begin to fail 
the reverse of this is true. (3) That the profit will probably 
be found greater relatively when a light grain ration 
is fed to animals grazing, rather than a full ration of the 
same, as grass is relatively cheaper than grain. It should 
also be noted, that when estimating the result from feeding 
a^rain on pastures, the influence exerted on the increase in 
the weight of the animal, on the quality of the meat and on 
the saving effected in the pasture should be considered. 

Whether it will be found profitable to feed grain to 
sheep that are being fattened on pastures has not been made 
the subject of experiment to any vcy great extent in this 
country. The necessity for so doing, and the advantage 
from the same will probably be based, ( i ) on the character 
of the pasture; (2) on the shortness of the period in which 
the fattening is to be done and (3) on the extent to which 
fertilizers have to be purchased. Sheep and lambs may 
be finished in good form on well matured rape in 60 to 90 
days from the commencement of the grazing. In the 
experience of the author feeding a grain supplement to 
lambs thus grazed- did not secure enough additional In- 
crease to cover all the cost of the grain. Notwithstanding, 
when it is remembered that a light grain supplement, run- 
ning from ^ to I pound per animal, per day, is to some 
extent a safeguard against certain digestive troubles that 
are liable to affect sheep thus grazed, more especially after 
hoar frost begins to settle on the rape, it would not be 
thus fed at a loss. When fattened on clover or amid grain 



MEAT PRODUCTION 399 

Stubbles, from ^ to i pound of some such grain mixture 
as corn and oats would be a necessity for quick finishing. 
When large sums are paid out annually for commercial 
fertilizers, to feed such a supplement freely as corn and 
oil cake to sheep while being grazed on arable pastures, 
would probably be found one of the cheapest possible 
methods of securing fertility. It is doubtless correct to say 
that a light grain supplement fed to immature swine on 
pasture will prove profitable in all instances in which the 
grazing does not consist of mature grain. Growing swine 
cannot consume enough pasture to insure quick growth. 
The amount of the supplement will vary with the size of 
the swine and the character of the pasture, but it is ap- 
proximately correct to say that not less than half the 
amount of grain should be fed that would be necessary if 
the swine were wholly dependent on grain. 

The relative profit from finishing stock on pasture with 
a grain supplement as compared with the same under con- 
fined conditions has been made the subject of experiment, 
and the conclusions reached favor the view that more 
profit results from finishing thus on pasture. This view 
is doubtless correct where the conditions favor such grazing 
but the fact remains, nevertheless, that very much of the 
live stock fattened must continue to be so fattened in the 
winter season, otherwise much coarse food would be 
vasted that is now turned to excellent account. 

It would be a mistake to try and finish live stock on 
sparse pastures, even when a grain supplement is in ample 
supply, owing to the over abundant expenditure of energy 
on the part of the animals in searching for grass, which, 
when succulent, is always appetizing. Such expenditure 
would be at the expense of supplemental food. But it may 
be in order to feed breeding or store animals a supplement 
of grain rich in the elements of fertilization. When the 
object is to enrich the land as well as to benefit the animals, 
sheep are best adapted to such feeding, because of the 
even way in which their droppings are distributed, and 



400 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

the small amount of loss that accompanies such distribu- 
tion. It would also be a mistake to require animals that 
are being fattened to consume closely shock corn fed on 
grazing lands in the autumn. The aim should be to have 
two pastures, and to allow store cattle and swine to glean 
after the animals that are being fattened. The two classes 
of animals would thus be alternated from day to day. Like- 
wise it would be a mistake to compel swine that are be- 
ing finished on unharvested corn or peas, to glean closely. 
That should be done by store swine that are admitted 
later. 

Financial returns from purchased feeders. — When 
animals are purchased for feeding, the financial results 
from fattening them will be influenced : ( i ) By the age 
at the time of purchase; (2) by the weight; (3) by the 
condition as to the flesh they carry; (4) by the value of 
the food fed and the duration of the feeding period, and 
by the difiference between the price paid at the time of 
purchase and received at the time of sale. 

It has been shown (see p. 371), that animals young 
and immature make greater increase when being fattened 
than mature animals. But age also influences market val- 
ues more or less. Of course with all animals, there is an 
age below which the market demands them only in limited 
numbers and to meet some special need, as in the case or 
"milk lambs" and "baby beef;" but when this age is past, 
the younger the animals are when put on feed, other things 
being equal, the larger are the profits likely to be, not only 
because of the greater and cheaper increase made, but 
because of the higher relative price which such animals bring 
when sold. With cattle the highest price and widest sale 
are made by animals from say 1,200 to 1,400 pounds when 
finished ; with sheep from 90 to 100 pounds ; with the lard 
types of swine, from 200 to 250 pounds, and with the 
bacon types, from 160 to 200 pounds. In former years 
animals much heavier were more in favor. 



MEAT PRODUCTION 40I 

When animals are being fattened, it has been showM 
that the profit usually made comes from the increase m 
value of each pound of the live weight at the time of 
purchase (see p. 384). Theoretically, therefore, the high- 
est profit should come from animals which weigh the most, 
but to this there is the ofifset ; first, that animals lighter 
because younger gain more on less feed, and second, that 
they usually sell for more, relatively, when finished. It is 
probably true that generally more is paid relatively per 
pound for the lighter animals, which so far offset the 
-eturns. 

It has been shown that condition as to the amount of 
flesh carried by animals when put upon feed influences 
gains (see p. Z77)- ^^^^ it usually influences profits in 
another way, that is, through the lower price for which 
such animals can be purchased. Because of this, more 
profit is sometimes made from feeding animals so mature 
that they are no longer profitable for breeding uses. When 
cattle are purchased young and lean, in the opening of the 
grazing season, they usually make large gains relatively 
and give profitable returns for the season's grazing be- 
cause of the light weight of the sparely covered frame at 
the time of purchase 

The influence of the cost of food is discussed on 
page 382. The duration of the finishing period is largely 
influenced by such considerations as the flesh condition 
when the animals are put on feed, by the relative cost 
of food and the finished product resulting from it, and 
by the comparative fitness of the animals for medium 
or high finish. The higher the condition of animals when 
fattening begins, the shorter relatively is the period re- 
quired in which to finish them and vice versa. The sav- 
ing thus efifected in the food of maintenance may go far 
to ofifset the difference in cost between lean and less lean 
animals when purchased for feeding. The higher the 
value of the foods fed and the lower the value of the 
finished product, the greater the necessity for curtailing 



402 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

the period of feeding and vice versa. The less fitness 
possessed by the animals for making a high finish, the 
shorter relatively should be the feeding period and the 
higher the degree of such fitness, the more may it be pro- 
longed under normal conditions, as high finish usually in- 
sures a high selling value. 

The difference between the price paid for animals 
when bought for fattening and when sold as finished, 
probably exercises a greater influence on returns than any 
single influence which bears on the fattening process. The 
difference between the buying and selling price to insure 
profit from fattening animals, especially sheep and swine, is 
influenced by the character of the animals, the cost of 
foods and the nature of the feeding. In this very com- 
plicated and many-sided problem, it will be found that 
the better the class of animals, the younger they are, the 
cheaper the foods and the cheaper the system of finishing, 
the narrower may be the margin of difference between 
buying and selling values. Finishing on grass with a 
supplement of concentrates is usually cheaper than finish- 
ing on dry food (see p. 397). With dry fodders worth 
% io y2 cent a pound, and concentrates at i cent 
a pound, some net profit should be made when the 
margin of difference between the buying and sell- 
ing prices is i cent per pound live weight. Considerable 
profit should result when it is ii/4 cents and a good profit 
when it is i^^ cents. 

Baby beef. — During recent years the production of 
what is termed "baby" beef has increased materially. The 
discussion of the question involves the consideration of the 
following: (i) What is baby beef? (2) The objects 
sought in growing it and (3) where and how it should be 
grown ? 

Baby beef may be defined as beef made from animals 
subsequently to the milk period and not yet two years 
old. The animals are kept growing rapidly from birth 
and are then marketed in a high condition of flesh, more 



MEAT PRODUCTION 4O3 

commonly in the one-year form, and between the ages of 
15 and 21 months. The term has also been applied to 
animals marketed when a little beyond the age of two 
years, but clearly it should not be so applied, as animals 
beyond that age may be made to produce carcasses, approx- 
imating average carcass weights. 

The following are chief among the objects sought 
from growing baby beef: — (ijTo meet the demand for 
well finished carcasses of light weight and possessed of 
quality that commands ready sale. Such meat is juicy and 
tender; (2) to prevent the over-stocking which may result 
from maintaining meat making animals of a more mature 
age. Such overstocking may easily occur both on the range 
and on the arable farm; (3) to secure increase from a 
minimum expenditure of food, on the principle that in- 
crease calls for more food to make it as the birth period 
is receded from. 

Baby beef can only be finished on the arable farm 
or under arable farm conditions, although its growth 
may be commenced and maintained on the range up to the 
weaning period. Dropped in the spring, the calves are pur- 
chased when weaned, pushed rapidly onward and disposed 
of during the following summer. Localities in which corn 
and alfalfa or corn and clover grow abundantly, have high- 
est adaptation for such feeding, since they furnish grow- 
ing and fattening foods in balance and cheaply, but in all 
localities where growth is abundant, baby beef may be 
grown from start to finish. 

On the arable farm two methods of growing baby 
beef have been followed. By the first, the calves are 
dropped, preferably in the autumn or early winter, reared 
upon their dams, pushed rapidly forward by generous grain 
feeding, subsequently to weaning, and marketed the second 
spring from the stall or what may usually be preferable, 
from the pastures of early summer, a season when such 
meat is much in demand. Animals reared thus will prob- 
ably bring more profit usually in the two-year form, since 



404 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

the proportion of cost to be charged against the dam will 
be materially less. By the second method, they are reared 
essentially on skim milk and adjuncts, the adjuncts con- 
sisting chiefly of concentrated foods and high class fodders. 
Baby beef from this source will be scarcely equal to that 
from calves that v/ere suckled by their dams, but it will be 
made more cheaply, as none of the cost is to be charged 
against the dam, since maternity in her case was necessary 
to bring her into milk, and its cost, therefore, would have 
to be incurred, regardless of what would become of the 
calf. 

The grain during the milk period in the case of hand- 
reared calves, ought to contain not less than 2;^ per cent 
of fattening food, such as corn, barley or rye from the 
first, when the fodders are leguminous, and this propor- 
tion should be materially increased, for several months 
previous to the disposal of the animals. Where non-legu- 
minous fodder must be relied on, the protein equivalents 
being purchased, as oil cake and such foods, the cost of 
production will be materially increased. The necessity for 
an ample supply of protein when growing such meat is well 
brought out in an experiment conducted by the Nebraska 
experiment station in 1904. When yearling steers were 
fed alfalfa and corn, the daily increase was 1.97 pounds. 
When fed prairie hay and corn it was 1.35 pounds. The 
net profit with the former was $8.66, with the latter 38 
cents. The test covered a period of six months. 

Winter lambs. — By winter lambs is meant lambs that 
are born, say from November i onward until mid-winter, 
and are pushed forward rapidly in their growth and are 
then sold while yet suckled by their dams. The aim should 
be to have them fill the place in the market between the 
time of abundant fowl consumption at the Christmas season 
and the ordinary season for selling early spring lambs. To 
bring the relatively high prices usually paid for them, they 
should be made plump and fat and to reach 40 to 50 
pounds in live weight at the age of 60 to 80 or 90 days. 



MEAT PRODUCTION 405 

To raise winter lambs, or as they are sometimes called, 
milk lambs, successfully, the following requisites must be 
present, viz: — (i) Ewes that will drop lambs at the proper 
season; (2) quarters sufficiently protected to shield the 
young lambs from harmful exposure; (3) food suitable in 
kind and ample in quantity and (4) facilities for marketing 
with dispatch and on easy call. If any of these are 
lacking, the success of the work will be proportionately 
increased. 

The breeds at present in this country which have 
the habit of dropping lambs in the late autumn or early 
winter are the Dorset and the Tunis and high grades of 
these. If lambs of one or the other of these breeds are 
crossed upon common females of breeding more or less 
mixed, the habit of producing lambs at the desired season 
may be engrafted on the progeny in a limited number 
of generations. The change may be facilitated by judicious 
feeding and selection. Experiments conducted by the 
author at the Minnesota station, showed that in two gen- 
erations of such breeding, the change was secured in a 
majority of instances. 

As in northern climes, winter lambs are dropped in 
weather that is usually more or less severe, it is necessary 
in growing them to have shelter provided sufficiently warm 
to protect the young lambs from hazard through exposure 
until they are a few days old. Such shelter may be pro- 
vided by a basement of a barn, dry, airy and sunny, or by a 
lambing pen or house built or fitted up for such use. As 
soon as the lambs are well started, it is not especiallv 
necessary that they shall be kept in quarters much warmer 
than would be suitable for a breeding flock, but of course 
temperatures lower than a certain degree will retard in- 
:rease and will make it more costly. The dams should 
be in reasonably good condition when the lambs are 
weaned, and must then be heavily fed on foods suitable 
for milk production until the lambs are sold. The fodder 
should be leguminous, fine in growth rather than coarse, 



406 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

and well cured. The grain should be rich in protein. 
Equal parts of bran, oats and corn or barley make a good 
grain ration, and it should be fed nearly to the limit of the 
capacity of the dams to consume it. Field roots sliced or 
corn silage are excellent, especially the former. The 
roots may be fed with much freedom, but usually not more 
than 3 or 4 pounds of silage are fed daily. 

The lambs are started on such food as sifted ground 
oats and oil cake or oil meal. This food and that which 
follows it, is fed inside a creep, which the dams may not 
enter. Ere long the lambs will take unground oats, cracked 
corn and oil meal, and these properly blended aid in pushing 
them rapidly. Corn may usually be profitably fed to the 
extent of making half the grain ration, as quick fattening 
is wanted. The other factors may be fed in equal propor- 
tions where the prices will admit of such feeding. 

As winter lambs are usually sent to a market that 
furnishes meat for a special and high class trade, they 
are frequently ordered as wanted. To fill such orders with 
dispatch, it is essential that the shipping facilities shall 
be of a reasonably high order. This means that winter 
lambs can be most profitably reared in proximity to rail- 
road stations. 

Growing bacon. — To grow bacon of high quality, the 
following requisites are essential : ( i ) The animals must 
be possessed of correct form ; ( 2 ) they must be managed 
on correct principles and (3) they must be grown on foods 
that will secure the end sought. The question of form is 
discussed elsewhere. (See p. 153)- 

Correct management calls for feeding that will secure 
the requisite growth within a reasonable age, for steady and 
continuous rather than fitful development, for that amount 
of exercise that will insure the requisite amount of musch 
in the carcass, and for that degree of finish that gives the 
desired firmness and thickness to the carcass without ex- 
cess in either of these. 



MEAT PRODUCTION 407 

The most desirable weights in high class bacon run 
from, say 160 to 220 pounds. Other things being equal, 
the lighter weights are preferred. These weights should 
be attained in from six to seven months. To reach them 
more quickly would involve feeding that would produce 
meat with an excess of fat and softness. To produce 
them more slowly would cut in seriously on tiie profits. 

Unless the growth is steady and continuous, the desired 
weights will not be attained. It should average about 33 
pounds a month during each month. Of course it will not 
average that much the first three months, but will average 
more during the months that follow. Food that will 
produce very quick development, especially during tlic 
later stages of growth, will produce meat more or less 
lacking in firmness. 

Exercise is essential to tlie development of muscle. 
Too little exercise accompanied even by ordinary feeding 
would result in the production of too small a percentage 
of lean meat. The bacon carcass should possess not only 
a large proportion of lean in the sides but also in the 
hams and elsewhere. Too much exercise will retard growth 
unduly. Because of the exercise which it furnishes, the 
pasturing of bacon swine during the season of growth has 
an important bearing upon the development of muscle. 

With bacon swine, the fattening or finishing period 
IS less pronounced than with the other types of swine. It 
is more a firming and thickening of the carcass than a 
fattening of the same, and yet it is not to be understood 
that a bacon carcass is synonymous with a lean and thin 
carcass. The finishing of bacon is accomplished through 
feeding foods which contain a reasonably high percentage 
of protein and carbohydrates, but not an excess of either. 

During pregnancy and the nursing period that follows, 
the food fed to the bacon and lard types of swine is es- 
sentially the same, that is to say, in both instances it should 
be essentially nitrogenous m character (see p. 124), But 
during the growing period subsequently to weaning, the 



408 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

bacon types call for food more nitrogenous than the lard 
types, and during the finishing period the food fed to the 
former should be considerably less carbonaceous. Legumin- 
ous pastures are in order. Corn may form say 33 per cent 
of the grain fed while the swine feed upon such pastures. 
During the finishing period it should not furnish more 
than that proportion of the same. Skim milk and barley 
furnish an excellent ration for growing bacon, and no grain 
furnishes bacon of a higher quality than barley if fed as 
the sole or principal food during the finishing period. In 
the absence of skim milk, shorts is one of the best sub- 
stitutes, while skim milk, shorts and barley are particularly 
excellent when fed in reasonable combination. These are 
the standard foods fed in Denmark, so justly noted for the 
high quality of its bacon. Other grain, as peas, oats and 
rye, when available, may be fed along with barley and with 
much success. 



CHAPTER XVIIl. 

CONSIDERATIONS THAT RELATE TO MILK 
PRODUCTION. 

Prominent among the considerations that relate to 
milk production are the following: — 
I. Formation of milk. 
Composition of milk. 

3. Foods and milk production. 

4. Milk production and cost. 

5. Quantity in milk production. 

6. Quality in milk production. 
Breeds and milk production. 
Lactation and milk production. 
Age and milk production 



9 
10 
II 
12 

13 
14 



Large and small cows. 



Relative milk giving capacity. 

Protection for cows in summer 

Shelter for cows in winter. 

Feeding grain to cows on pasture. 
These are discussed in the order given. 
Formation of milk. — As has been pointed out by 
Armsby, milk is not simply a secretion from the blood, 
as urine is in the kidneys, or as the digestive juices are in 
the stomach and intestines. That it is not a transudate, that 
is a variant, a filtrate of the blood, the result of the pas- 
sage of its fluid constituents through membrane, is shown 
in its composition. Milk differs from blood : ( i ) In that 
it contains factors not found in blood; (2) in the marked 
contrast in the ash in blood and milk respectively and (3) 
in the sustaining power of each. Cow's milk contains 
from 2 to 5 per cent protein, and from 3 to 5 per cent 
milk sugar. But the protein of the blood exists as al- 
bumin or fibrin, while the greater portion of that in milk 
exists as casein, which is found in considerable quantity 

409 



410 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

only in milk. Milk sugar has not been met with else- 
where in the animal organism. The ash of milk contains 
from three to five times as much potash as soda, while the 
ash of blood contains from three to five times as much 
soda as potash. Milk, therefore, cannot be a secretion, in 
the ordinary use of the term. Moreover, milk contains 
within itself all the essential constituents for sustaining 
animal life and in due balance which is not true of blood. 

Milk is secreted in the mammary glands. It is formed 
in the milk glands and from the cells of the same. That 
its formation shall be possible, it is essential that the ani- 
mal which has not heretofore produced it shall become 
pregnant. When conception takes place, the cells begin 
to enlarge and to fill with fat globules. New cells also 
are formed, a process which increases until the birth period, 
at which time it becomes very rapid. The secretions first 
formed are those also first drawn from the udder, and 
form the colostrum of milk (see p. 411). In three or four 
days, this is followed by the true milk. After a period in 
lactation, the glands decrease in size, and the milk flow is 
reduced, hence the necessity for recurring periods of 
pregnancy to secure corresponding periods of abundant 
milk production. 

Milk elaboration does not proceed at a uniform rate 
between milkings. It is most rapid by far while the milk 
is being withdrawn. It is greatly accelerated by the manip- 
ulation of the udder in the act of milking, and is also much 
influenced by the nervous condition of the cow. The char- 
acter of the manipulation exerts an important influence 
as well as the fact of the same, as is shown from the in- 
crease or decrease which frequently results from a change 
of milkers. The results from nervous influence are shown 
in the marked difiference in quantity and to some extent in 
the quality of milk withdrawn by those whose work is 
gentle and kind, as compared with the same withdrawn 
by milkers harsh and rough. 

That the quantity and quality of the milk are not 
dependent entirely on the food, is evidenced in the great 



MILK PRODUCTION 4I I 

difference in the amount and character of the milk from 
two cows fed on precisely the same kind of food, the other 
conditions being- similar. These are determined by the 
size and quality of the milk gland. But the relation be- 
tween food and milk is very close, nevertheless. The milk 
cells consist largely of protein. The fat also and probably 
a part of the milk sugar is formed from albuminoids, hence 
it is to be expected that their formation will be more or 
less dependent on the protein in the food. This logical 
expectation has been abundantly verified by experiments, 
which have shown that the most abundant milk, yields have 
been obtained from a fodder rich in protein. Before leav- 
ing the subject, it may be said that, notwithstanding all 
that is known about milk elaboration, many things about 
it are not yet understood. 

The composition of milk. — Milk is the opaque whitish 
liquid secreted by the mammary glands of female animals, 
and primarily designed for the nourishment of their young, 
but in every age, it has also been made to furnish food 
for the human family. In America about the only milk 
used for man is that taken from the cow, but the milk of 
sheep and goats and even of mares is also used thus in 
various countries. Cow's milk is easily digested, and con- 
tains in equilibrium all the constituents requisite for main- 
taining life and promoting growth in bovines and also in 
the human family, at least during the earlier periods of 
development. Notwithstanding considerable and even wide 
variations in the composition of milk from individual ani- 
mals, the following may be given as approximately the aver- 
age constituents of the milk of cows, sheep and mares 
respectively : — 

Digestive nutrients in 100 lbs. 



ind of 
milk 


Dry matter in 
1(V) pounds 
lbs. 


Protein 
lbs. 


Carbo- 
hydrates 
'lbs. 


Ether 
Extract 
lbs. 


From cows 


12.80 


3.60 


4.90 


370 


From ewes 


19.18 


6.52 


4.91 


6.86 


From mares 


9.22 


1.99 


5-67 


1.21 



412 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Because of the difficulty in obtaining samples, but few 
analyses of sow's milk have ever been made. At the Wis- 
consin station the average of nine samples gave the fol- 
lowing in lOO pounds of milk: Dry matter 19.65 pounds, 
protein 6.4 pounds, carbohydrates 4.75 pounds and ether 
extract 8.24 pounds. 

The protein is found in the above tables as casein and 
albumen, the proportions being as about 5 to i. When the 
casein is coagulated, as by the use of rennet, it forms curd 
which is made into cheese. The greater portion of the fat 
also enters into the curd. The albumen does not coag- 
ulate, and in making cheese, along with the milk sugar, 
passes into the whey. 

The carbohydrates are formed as milk sugar, which in 
chemical composition closely resembles cane sugar, but is 
not equal to the latter in sweetening power, and it is less 
soluble. It is thought to have about the same feeding 
value as an equal weight of starch. When milk sours 
coagulation is caused by some of the milk sugar being 
changed to lactic acid. 

The ether extract, which is simply fat, exists m the 
form of minute globules, which are essentially a mixture 
of several fats. These are exceedingly minute, so much so 
that their number is almost incredible. When the milk is 
left at rest, these rise to the surface and form cream. They 
are also separated by what is known as the centrifugal 
system, which subjects the milk to a rapid whirling motion, 
at least soon after it is drawn from the cow. By 
churning the cream thus gathered, butter is obtained. 

Whole milk is also rich in mineral matter. Were it 
otherwise, it would not furnish sufficient material for the 
further development of the bony structure in young ani- 
mals. Cow's milk contains about seven-tenths of a pound 
of mineral substance in each 100 pounds of milk, spoken 
of as ash. It consists chiefly of phosphates and chloride of 
potash, soda and lime. , - 



MILK PRODUCTION 4I3 

As a food for young stock, whole milk is without a 
rival. Substitutes are of course frequently used as supple- 
ments or substitutes for it, but none of these have been 
found to answer quite so well the purposes of rapid growth. 
This explains why it is so generally given without stint 
to young animals that are to be fitted for exhibitioti 
purposes, far beyond the usual age for weaning. Although 
by far the safest food for young stock, some caution must 
be exercised in feeding it, especially when very rich in 
fat, or digestive troubles may follow. 

From the table it will be noticed that ewe's milk has 
in it a much higher proportion of protein and fat than 
cow's milk. This would suggest the wisdom of adding 
cream to cow's milk used in starting lambs quite young 
on the same, or of using strippings for such feeding. As 
mare's milk contains only about one-half the protein and 
fat of cow's milk, but considerably more sugar, when 
cow's milk is given to young foals, it should be diluted 
with water and sugar added. These additions may of 
course be reduced gradually as the digestion becomes ac- 
customed to the change. Sow's milk is much richer in 
fat and sugar than cow's milk, hence it would seem prudent 
to add cream and sugar for a time, when cow's milk is 
substituted for the former with quite young pigs. 

Foods and milk production. — To furnish milk eco- 
nomically the cow should be supplied with food : ( i ) In 
balance as to chemical constituents and of easy digestibility ; 
(2) in quantity limited only by the consuming power of 
the cow; (3) obtained from sources relatively cheap an^l 
(4) possessed of at least a reasonable amount of succulence. 
The yield in milk production, other things being equal, will 
be reduced in proportion as these essentials are lacking. 
The Wolff-Lehmann standards recommend the following 
organic and digestible nutrients for milk production per 
day, in a cow possessed of 1,000 pounds live weight and 
producing 22 pounds milk daily: 



414 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Digestible protein ' 2.5 pounds. 

Digestible ether extract 0.5 pound. 

Digestible carbohydrates _ 13.0 pounds. 

Total dry matter 29.0 pounds. 

This gives a nutritive ratio of I '.^.y. In nearly all 
foods the inorganic or mineral constituents are sufficiently 
present to supply all the needs of the animals. The one 
common exception is salt. 

The above constituents are much the same as those 
contained in good pasture grass, and this fact constitutes 
a strong presumptive argument in favor of its approximate 
correctness. Good pasture grass, when at its best for 
milk production, constitutes more nearly a perfect ration 
for cows giving milk than any single food that can be 
furnished for them. This is evidenced in the doubt that 
exists in the minds of many practical men as to whether 
anything can be added to such a ration, as grain for in- 
stance, that will make it more effective in producing milk. 
Good pasture for milk production may be defined as 
pasture so far advanced in growth that it will not induce 
under-laxity of the digestion, not far enough advanced in 
growth to make it in any marked degree less palatable 
or less digestible, and sufficiently abundant to supply the 
needs of the animals without calling for any unnecessary 
exertion from it while grazing. 

The tendency with some American investigators, how- 
ever, is to reduce somewhat the protein requirement in the 
food for dairy cows as given in the Wolff-Lehmann 
standards. Some of these favor a reduction of as much as 
10 per cent of protein. This would make the digestible 
protein requirement 2.25 instead of 2.5 pounds per day, and 
would in no inconsiderable degree cheapen the ration. The 
wisdom of making such a reduction has found considerable 
support. The difference in the protein reqirement thus 
advanced for the respective countries may be owing to a 
difference in the condition of the foods as to the amount of 



MILK PRODUCTION 415 

moisture which they contain, or to some other difference. 
Xor should it be overlooked that heifers immature require 
more protein relatively than mature cows to aid in complet- 
ing growth, and large milk producers more than those 
which produce less freely, since with the former more is 
required for the larger yield of milk furnished. 

Much depends on the relative digestibility of the food. 
Concentrated foods as grain and the by-products of grain 
are not only richer in the per cent of nutrients which they 
contain, but the per cent of these digestible is also larger. 
This explains in part, why it is advantageous and even 
necessary to feed more or less grain or meal along with dry 
fodders. The cow is unable to consume enough bulky 
fodder to produce maximum milk yields, and with increase 
in the relative proportion thereof fed to cows, comes in- 
crease in the energy expended in digesting the ration. For 
instance, a ration that produces a given return on the basis 
of nutrients when 60 per cent of the nutrients are digestible, 
will not produce the same return if but 55 per cent are 
digestible. Nor should the same return be expected if the 
nutrients in the less digestible ration were increased so as 
to make the total digestible nutrients in the two equal. In 
the latter instance, there w^ould be a diversion of energy^ 
in digestion from milk production to the mastication of the 
extra digestible matter in it, and in carrying the same 
through the various digestive organs. But, on the other 
hand, as a matter of economy and to maintain sufficient 
distension in the digestive organs, a certain proportion of 
roughage is necessary. 

The necessity for feeding cows freely in milk produc- 
tion will be apparent when it is remembered that more 
than half the food fed in many instances is required as 
the food of maintenance before any return can be obtained 
for the same. Production can only begin from the food fed 
after this requirement has been satisfied, and is only limited 
by the amount consumed and the capacity of the cow to 
produce milk from it. The only limit to be observed in 



4l6 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

feeding cows applies to the relative proportion of con- 
centrates fed. This should not be so high as to react m 
reducing digestive capacity, which will certainly follow pro- 
longed and excessive feeding of concentrates (see p. 115). 

That the aim should be to feed foods relatively cheai:) 
when efficient, does not require to be argued. But how to 
secure and feed them thus stirs a large and ever recurring 
question in the experience of dairymen. Grass and soil- 
ing foods, as well as dry fodders, are usually cheaper 
than concentrates, and therefore should be fed to the great- 
est extent compatible with the highest profit attainable. To 
secure this it may be necessary first, to sacrifice something 
in highest yields, attainable through feeding more grain, 
and second, to feed more carbohydrates relatively than the 
feeding standards call for, because of their greater relative 
cheapness. 

That succulence in foods exercises an important in- 
fluence on milk production has already been noticed. Why 
it does so is not so well understood. This relation is con- 
stant in the sense that it is always present, though varying 
in degree with the foods that contain the succulence. The 
influence thus exerted is greater with some foods than with 
others of equal succulence. The result follows probably 
from the favorable influence which they exert on the 
digestive tone, as when they lessen the tendency to consti- 
pation, and also because of the more favorable condition in 
which they are for .being suitably acted upon by the gastric 
juices, because of their soft condition. Green corn is cer- 
tainly more favorable to milk production than the same 
amount of dry matter in corn fed in the cured form, not- 
withstanding that the amount of water taken into the sys- 
tem should be the same in the two instances. 

Milk production and cost. — The cost of producing 
milk will depend on such conditions as the following: (i) 
The value of the food fed; (2) the capacity of the cow to 
turn food into milk; (3) the season of the year at which 
the milk is obtained; (4) the cost of the plant and the value 
of labor involved. 



MILK PRODUCTION 4I7 

So far as food is purchased, it is of covirse to be 
charged not at the vakie in the open market but at the 
price paid, with the cost of conveyance added. When grown 
upon the farm, it is to be reckoned not at the market but 
at the home value, which may be set down as approximately 
20 per cent less than the market value under average con- 
ditions. This important factor should be taken into the 
account when studying the reports of experiment stations 
on animal production, as these usually charge food at 
market values. 

Variations in the value of foods, the result of location 
and other conditions may make a difference of not less 
than 50 per cent in the cost of production. Fertility or the 
lack of this has an important influence on the cost of home 
grown foods. The proportion of roughage to concentrates 
fed, especially when succulent and nutritious, as silage, 
tends to cheapen production. In an experiment at the 
Utah station, the cost of maintaining a dairy cow for a 
year was $22.28; while at the Cornell university it was 

.$45-25- 

The influence of adaptation in the cow for production 
is, in some instances, greater even than that of food values 
on the cost of production. In the test referred to above at 
the Cornell university, the particulars of which are given 
in Bulletin No. 32, issued by that institution, there were 
20 cows. The cost of producing 100 pounds of milk varied 
all the way from 44 cents to $1.07 per cow. The cost of 
food with the former was $43.12 for the year and with 
the latter $36.24. In the case of a very young heifer, the 
cost of producing 100 pounds of milk was $1.46, but be- 
cause of her tender age she is excluded from the compari- 
son. The cost of producing butter fat varied from 11 cents 
to 27 cents per pound. Excluding the heifer referred to, 
the yields of milk for the year varied from 3,387.75 to 
11,165 pounds. To produce the former cost in food $36.24, 
and to produce the latter $52.06. Valuing the milk at 70 
cents per 100 pounds, the difference in the net production 



4l8 P'EEDING FARM ANIMALS 

would be $51.04 and in the cost of the food but $15.82. The 
wisdom of careful selection and close culling in the dairy 
are thus emphasized. 

Experiments have shown that production costs more 
in winter than in summer, in keeping with the relative 
change in food values. The maximum of cost is usually 
reached in March and April, and the minimum in the early 
months of pasture. As winter approaches, the cost again 
increases. This does not mean that summer dairying is 
more profitable. It is usually less so, owing to the relatively 
cheaper value of dairy products. On the average farm it 
would be correct to say, that winter dairying, all things 
considered, is the more profitable and generally ad- 
vantageous. 

As the cost of the plant, that is, the cost of rent of 
land and buildings, cows and dairy utensils increases, so 
does the interest on the investment. The difference in this 
respect on cheap land and fertile, and dear land and not 
much fertile, is very considerable. The difference in wages 
may also vary materially in localities. The cost of trans- 
portation must be considered, and the difference here also 
may be material in the case of milk. 

In the face of influences which thus vary, it is impossible 
to give mean averages of the cost of producing 100 pounds 
of milk, or one pound, of butter fat. With a whole herd 
it has seldom been found possible during recent years to 
produce the former at a less cost than 50 cents and the 
latter at a less cost than 12 cents. 

Quantity in milk production. — The influences that 
affect quantity in milk production include the following: 
(i) The food fed; (2) the breed or grade; (3) type; (4) 
inheritance; (5) size; (6) age; (7) time from calving; (8) 
exercise; (9) discomfort arising from any source, and (10) 
habit in milk giving. It is not possible to state the relative 
degrees of the influence thus exercised, since it will vary 
with variation in the attendant conditions. 



MILK TRODUCTION 419 

That the food fed exercises a most potent influence 
on the quantity of milk produced is evident from the fact, 
that though all the other influences should be present in 
the most desirable form, the quantity of milk produced can 
only be proportionate to the suitability of the food ration. 
The essentials in foods favorable to milk production 
are : A high relative protein content, enough of succulence, 
sufficient concentration, and at least a reasonable degree 
of palatability. 

The influence of the breed or grade on milk produc- 
tion, more especially with reference to quantity in produc- 
tion, is recognized in the classification of cows, as dairy, 
dual purpose and beef breeds. This classification carries 
along with it the thought that the class first named pos- 
sesses dairy qualities in the highest degree, including, of 
course, quantity in milk production. Experience in grading 
has also shown that the influence of breed on production 
in the grade is so marked, that a limited number of genera- 
tions of up-grading will so effectively enstamp milking 
qualities, that these will bear a close resemblance to the 
same in the breed from which the sires have been chosen. 
When accompanied by careful selection, this result should 
follow within, say four to six generations of careful breed- 
ing. For the standing of the dairy and dual purpose breeds 
with reference to production see page 135. 

That type or form exercises a most potent influence on 
quantity in milk production cannot be questioned. ( See 
p. 143.) It is possible nevertheless that some writers on dairy 
form have assigned a higher relative value to it. as gen- 
erally outlined, than it is entitled to, and that some breeders 
have sought it to an extent that has led to a lessened pro- 
duction. The most that can be claimed for it is, that it is 
an indicator of quantity in milk production, so reliable, 
as to furnish a reasonably safe general guide when select- 
ing or judging dairy cattle. That it is not an infallible 
guide is shown first, in the inability of the best judges to 
certainly determine the rank of the various animals in a 



420 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

dairy nerd in the order of tne relative milk yields obtained 
from each. This inability is based on the fact that highest 
type, as based on generally recognized interpretation, is not 
always associated with highest milk yields. Second, with 
some breeds, notably the Brown Swiss, large milking 
capacity is associated with some indications of form, nota- 
bly strong shoulders and heavy hams, that are usually 
looked upon as being antagonistic to large milk production. 

Furthermore, some essentials of the recognized dairy 
type in what may be termed the extremest form, are to 
some extent antagonistic to the retention of the highest de- 
gree of inherent stamina. These include thin, and long 
necks, sharpness and steepness at the withers and down- 
ward spring of rib, beyond a certain degree. Extreme in 
degree, these point to and are associated with a vitality 
not of the strongest and most vigorous type. Some regard 
must be had then to the law of equilibrium in dairy form, 
even though it should be necessary to sacrifice something 
in milk yields in order to maintain it. 

The influence of inheritance on quantity in milk 
production is very potent. As with all other forms of 
transmission, such inheritance is not invariably uniform 
and certain, but it is sufficiently so to enable the skillful 
breeder to maintain high averages in milk yields, and 
even to increase them. In up-grading, the increase from 
such transmission is most marked. 

That there is a relation between large size up to a 
certain limit and quantity in milk production cannot be 
questioned. What may be regarded as phenomenal milk 
yields have nearly all been made by cows of large size. 
Such a result is in harmony with the known laws of physi- 
ology, as, with increase in size, other things being equal, 
there is increase in capacity to take the food from which 
milk is made. The proportion of the food nutrients di- 
verted for maintenance is also relatively less. The relation 
between size, milk production and cost is discussed else- 
where. (Seep. 433.) 



MILK PRODUCTION 421 

That age influences production is potent to everyone 
conversant with dairying. During the first years of lacta- 
tion, general experience has shown that the milk yields, 
though advancing from year to year toward maximum, 
are lower than maximum, and that when the meridian 
of vigor is passed, they gradually decline. The time re- 
quired to reach maximum yields and to maintain them, 
varies with such influences as individual vigor, based upon 
individual or breed inheritance, care and management. 

In nearly all instances maternity is a pre-requisite to 
milk production in any degree, and in all instances, it is 
a pre-requisite to the same under normal conditions. Uni- 
formity in the quantity of the milk flow cannot be main- 
tained for any considerable period. 

The largest milk yields are obtained during the weeks 
which follow the first week or two subsequently to parturi- 
tion. They then gradually decrease, howsoever suitable 
for milk production the food may be, until finally they 
cease entirely. The duration of the period of lactation is 
influenced by several conditions and may be greatly pro- 
longed but it cannot be maintained indefinitely in the 
absence of the renewing influence of maternity. (See p. 429.) 

Exercise, in so far as it tends to-maintain normal vigor, 
is favorable to increase in the amount of milk given. 
When, however, it draws upon the energies beyond the 
necessity mentioned, it tends proportionately to reduce 
milk yields. Cows in milk do not call for much exercise 
when kept under proper sanitary conditions. Every step 
taken in pastures when grazing beyond actual health re- 
quirements, tells so far adversely on milk production. 
When given it should always be gentle in character. 

Discomfort to cows during the period of lactation 
may arise from many sources. Prominent among these 
are: (i) Exposure to the extent of producing unrest 
whether from cold or heat; (2) irritating influences such 
as lice, mange and flies; (3) irregularity in feeding, water- 
ing or milking and (4) disturbance of equilibrium in the ner- 



422 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

vous system. Anyone of these influences actmg singly when 
present in any considerable degree may result in a marked 
reduction in the milk yield. For the discussion of the 
influence of cold and heat see pages 439 and 436. 

In a well ordered dairy, lice and mange may give br.t 
little or no trouble. In fact where cows are not bought in to 
any extent, they may never be present. Not so, however, 
with flies (see p. 437). From the two sources of irrita- 
tion first mentioned, they may with the exercise of due 
precaution be protected, but no precaution of an entirely 
practical nature can altogether protect them from flies. 
The remedies for such visitations do not come within the 
plan of this work, but the absolute necessity for removing 
lice and mange when present, or any other form of 
skin disease, is emphasized, as also the Vv^isdom of protect- 
ing from flies as far as practicable. 

The absolute necessity for observing the strictest regu- 
larity in furnishing food and drink to cows, if highest 
milk yields are to follow, cannot be too strongly em- 
phasized. It has not been shown that the hour for giving 
food or drink exercises any special influence, providing 
the time is the same from day to day. Of course such 
hours should be chosen for giving food and drink as will 
best suit the purpose of the individual, providing they do 
not interfere with the natural season in which the cow is ac- 
customed to rest. Two feeds a day, ample in quantity, 
have been found quite as satisfactory as three. When these 
are given twelve hours apart, it is reasonable to suppose 
that equilibrium in digestion will be more perfect and more 
easily maintained, than when the intervals between feed- 
ing are of unequal length. When they are unequal, the 
digestive organs are more severely taxed during the short- 
er interval, and in proportion as it is shorter. But regu- 
larity in feeding is more important than duration between 
the periods of feeding or even the number of feeds per 
day. Irregularity in milking interferes with function in the 
milk gland. (See p. 480.) When milk is being elaborated 



MILK PRODUCTION 423 

in large quantities, the retention of the same beyond the 
usual time produces" discomfort. No more certain method 
of reducing the milk flow can be adapted than that which 
withdraws the milk from the udder at irregular intervals, 
and the reduction is further increased when the milk is 
not all taken from the udder, a neglect of which careless 
milkers are frequently guilty. 

Milk elaboration is more or less, influenced by the 
nervous system preceding and accompanying such elabora- 
tion. Nervous calm is favorable to the process, and 
nervous unrest unfavorable. This explains in part at least 
why it is so harmful to chase cows in milk with dogs. It 
also explains why noisy and rough herdsmen, even though 
not necessarily cruel, cannot bring the herd up to highest 
possible capacity in milk-giving. It also makes it plain 
why gentle milkers who are uniformly so when milking, 
will get more milk from cows than those opposite in their 
ways. 

The influence of habit on quantity in milk production 
is shown in various ways. Among these are the following: 
(i) In the tendency in the average cow that suckles her 
calf to produce no more milk than the calf can utilize 
when the feeding is not forced; (2) in the relatively short 
period during which she provides food for her calf and this 
period usually does not cover more than six to seven 
months; (3) in the relatively large quantity of milk 
produced by the average dairy cow properly cared for ; 

(4) in the difficulty frequently found in drying off good 
dairy cows to give them a period of rest before calving; 

(5) in the great increase in milk production that may be 
obtained even from a cow possessed of what may be termed 
the beef form, through patient, persistent milking from 
year to year. The relation between the influence of habit 
on quantity in milk production and inheritance is close. The 
same may be said of the various influences that offset 
quantity in milk production. In fact they are in a sense 



424 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

a more .or less complicated inter-related whole, which re- 
act upon each other, so closely that it would be impossible 
to tell the degree of the influence that should be assigned 
to each. 

Quality in milk production. — Quality in milk, relates 
chiefly to its composition as to constituents, also to taste, 
flavor and color. The more potent of the influences which 
affect quality in the milk of the cow and also probably in 
that of other domestic animals are: (i) Food; (2) breed 
or grade; (3) individuality within the breed or grade; (4) 
the time of the lactation period and also of the milk- 
ing season when it is taken from the udder and 
(5) quantity in the milk flow. The milk of mares is in- 
fluenced to some extent by work. 

Food affects quantity in milk to a far greater extent 
than quality (see p. 419). But it also affects quality to 
some extent with reference to constituents of the milk 
as to the proportion of the solids and other components 
which it contains, and in a greater degree, taste and flavor 
in the same. Food rich in protein may considerably in- 
crease the proportion of solids but the increase relates 
to other factors rather than to fat. This would seem to 
explain how the quantity of butter may to some extent be 
increased by correct feeding without increasing the propor- 
tion of the butter fat. The popular view that watery food 
increases the proportion of water in milk, has not been sus- 
tained by experiments conducted to throw light upon this 
question. 

That food exercised an important determining in- 
fluence on the percentage of butter fat in milk was matter 
of universal belief until recent years. So deeply rooted is 
this belief in the minds of a considerable number of 
practical dairymen, that they still cherish it in the face of 
evidence based on experiment to the contrary. Many ex- 
periments carefully conducted have shown that while food 
may and does increase or decrease materially the total 
yield of fat, that it does not essentially increase or decrease 



MILK PRODUCTION 425 

the percentage of the fat. It is true, nevertheless, that if a 
cow has been fed so long on innutritions food that her 
condition as to flesh and bodily vigor have been greatly 
reduced, and if such food is supplanted by a ration rich 
in character, there will in time be some increase up to a 
certain limit in the fat in the milk. Under normal con- 
ditions there may be slight variations in the percentage 
of butter fat following a change of food, but these are 
more or less temporary in character. It is also true that 
food may in the course of generations exercise some in- 
fluence on the normal quality of milk as to butter fat, as 
witnessed in the essential difference in this respect with 
reference to the milk of cows maintained on the bulky and 
watery foods of moist lands of the Netherlands, and those 
maintained on foods less bulky and watery as grown in the 
Channel islands. But selection also with the cows in the 
two countries has had its influence. How much is to be 
attributed to each can never be known. Food also in- 
fluences the mechanical condition of the butter fat and to 
some extent its chemical condition, as shown in its keep- 
ing qualities. Some foods, as cottonseed for instance, ren- 
der butter more firm, and others as oil cake when fed in 
very large quantities, render it less so. 

The influence of food also extends to taste, flavor and 
color. Taste and flavor are so closely allied, that usually 
if not indeed always, what influences one also influences 
the other. Among the foods that influence both favorably 
are fresh succulent grasses, nutritious in character. Among 
those that influence both unfavorably, when eaten in large 
quantities are rye and rape among pastures ; turnips, ruta- 
bagas and the tops of these, and to less extent potatoes 
among roots and tubers; and leeks (Alliuni tricocciim) and 
penny cress (Thalsapi arvcnse) among weeds. The taint 
thus imparted to the milk extends also to the butter. Color 
in milk is more influenced by breed than by feed as shown 
below, but it is true also that foods which furnish the 
most palatable milk also furnish it of good color. 



426 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Breed influences the constituents of milk more prob- 
ably than anything- else, with the exception of species. The 
difference in the components of the milk of mares and of 
cows is greater than the difference in the same between 
cows of one and the same breed. Some breeds produce 
milk with a higher percentage of butter fat than others. 
The difference is marked, averaging in many instances as 
much as i per cent. Milk richest in butter fat comes 
from the Channel island breeds. Breed also affects color in 
milk and in some degree taste, since increase or decrease in 
percentage of fat influences taste. Taste may vary in in- 
dividuals, but, usually the more fat the milk contains, the 
more agreeable is the taste considered. The bright straw 
colored tint in milk increases with the percentage of fat 
and vice versa. The influence on color extends also to 
butter made from the milk. The Guernsey breed is pro- 
verbial for producing butter that is rich in color, that is 
butter of a bright yellowish hue. The influence of grade 
on milk in the cows is the same in kind as that of breed 
but less in degree. This means for instance that the higher 
the percentage of Jersey blood in Jersey grades the higher 
relatively will be the percentage of fat in the milk. But 
not until quite a number of generations of Jersey grades 
have been produced will the per cent of fat in the milk 
test as high on the average as the milk of the pure Jersey, 
(seep. 41). 

The difference in the quality of milk, more especially 
with reference to the amount of butter fat which it contains 
is sometimes greater within the breed or grade than it is 
between breeds. In extreme instances it may average as 
much as 2 per cent. The immediate cause is the char- 
acter of the milk gland. One cow of the same age and 
breed, fed on precisely the same kind of food, and under 
exactly the same conditions, will furnish much less milk 
and milk also less rich in butter fat than another cow and 
no amount of forcing can make the former produce equal 
to the latter since the milk gland has not the same capacity 



MILK PRODUCTION" 427 

for producing milk equal in quantity or quality to the milk 
gland of the other. But the primary cause must trace 
back to the variations which accompany inheritance. 

As the time of calving is receded from, the quantity of 
the milk produced decreases more or less gradually. With 
such decrease comes an increase in the proportion of casein 
and to some extent decrease in the proportion of fat. The 
fat also contains a larger proportion of volatile fatty acids 
during the earlier periods of lactation, hence the butter 
made from it is more highly flavored. 

The variations found in the percentage of fat in the 
same animal from whatever source they may arise are 
slight, compared with those found in milk as it is drawn 
from the udder. That first drawn is lowest in butter fat 
and the increase in the per cent of the fat is continuously 
progressive, the richest milk being taken last. The differ- 
ence is in some instances considerably more than 100 per 
cent. 

Quantity in the milk flow influences the proportion 
of solids in the milk. It may be affirmed that as a rule : 
(i) Large yields of milk from cows are more watery than 
small ones; (2) that milk is less watery as the lactation 
period advances and (3) that the longer the intervals 
between the milkings the more watery is the milk. 

Breeds and milk production. — Breed influences: (i) 
Quantity in production; (2) quality in the same and (3) 
adaptation for production with reference to environment. 
It is by no means the only influence bearing upon any 
one of the phases of production just mentioned, but it does 
bear upon each of them sufficiently to entitle it to careful 
consideration when deciding upon the breed or high 
grade of the same that shall be chosen for dairying. 

That breed influences quantity in milk production is 
well brought out in the considerably higher averages ob- 
tained from Holstein-Friesian cows as compared with the 
Jersey. The same is true of high grades of these respec- 
tive breeds. The difference in this respect cannot be. 



428 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Stated in percentages, owing to the great variations in in- 
dividuality in single animals and in whole herds, the out- 
come of breeding, selection and other influences. It has 
been sufficiently recognized, however, by practical men, 
to influence them in establishing their herds. When milk 
is wanted for sale, as in cities, the preference has been in 
favor of the Holstein rather than the Jersey. The same 
preference has been shown on many farms where large 
quantities of skim milk are wanted for feeding swine and 
kindred uses. Of the four distinct dairy breeds in America, 
the Holstein, the Ayrshire, the Guernsey and the Jersey, 
it would be correct to say that the Holsteins rank highest 
for quantity in milk production, the Ayrshires second, and 
if there is a difference the Guernseys will rank third. The 
dual types, including the milking Shorthorn, the Red Poll, 
the Brown Swiss and the Devon, all rank at least medium 
in the quantity of milk produced, higher probably than 
the Guernsey and Jersey, and lower than the Holstein. 

For quality in milk based on the percentage of the 
butter fat, the Jersey and Guernsey are unquestionably en- 
titled to first place. If there is a difference in the balancing, 
it would probably incline toward the Jersey. Next in the 
percentage of butter fat comes the Ayrshire, and the 
Holstein stands lowest. Where cream and butter are the 
chief considerations, aside from the influences of adaptation 
to environment, it is very evident which of the breeds will 
best answer the purpose. Without additional light it would 
not be possible to classify the milk of the dual types in the 
order of richness in butter fat. The milk of each of these 
rank3 at least medium in this respect. Like that of the 
Ayrshire it is equally well adapted to the production of 
•butter and cheese. For the last named purpose, the milk 
of the Holstein also ranks at least medium. The milk 
of the Jersey and Guernsey are not so much used in cheese 
making as that of the other breeds named, not from any 
want of adaptation for such a use, but from the smaller 
relative yields frequently obtained. 



MILK PRODUCTION 429 

The adaptation of breed to the environment should 
never be ignored. That relatively light breeds fare better 
on rugged lands and pastures extensive in production is 
now generally conceded. It is also generally accepted that 
the Ayrshire and the Devon have higher adaptation for 
stern climates than some at least of the other breeds. 

The milk of high grades of all the breeds named has 
essentially the same peculiarities as that of the breeds in 
the pure form, but probably they do not possess these in 
the same degree. It would seem to be true that changing 
the quality of the milk produced is not so easily or quickly 
accomplished as changing the animal form. 

Lactation and milk production. — With reference to 
milk giving it may be said: (i)That the period of the 
lactation exercises an important influence on production ; 
(2) the milk yield is greatest a short time subsequently to 
the time of calving; (3) after a time it lessens gradually 
under normal conditions, until finally it ceases; (4) it is, of 
course, chiefly dependent on the food fed. but not entirely 
so. 

Alilk giving is dependent on maternity, first with refer- 
ence to its possibility, and second, with reference to its re- 
newal. The instances are exceedingly rare though not en- 
tirely unknown, in which cows can be made to produce 
milk in the absence of maternity. It is a provision arranged 
for by nature, whereby suitable food is prepared by the 
cow for her progeny to sustain it from birth until it is old 
enough to live upon other food. In cows left to the in- 
fluences of nature only, it ceases entirely as soon as the 
calf is able to provide otherwise for itself, but, subject to 
man's control, it may be prolonged indefinitely within cer- 
tain limits. Beyond these, no power or skill can prolong 
its continuance, hence the necessity for renewal from time 
to time through the production of progeny. Such renewal 
is customary with the cow, under normal conditions, about 
once a year, but frequently it occurs at irregular periods, 
owine to various causes. 



430 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

The milk yield is greatest a short time subsequently to 
the time of calving. That it is not greatest at the time of 
calving is also a wise provision of nature, otherwise the 
calf could not take a sufficiently large (juantity of the milk 
from the udder, in consequence of which disaster might 
result to the cow. When deposited beyond a certain 
quantity in the receptacles of the udder and not removed 
at such a time, milk fever and other ills may follow. The 
increase is gradual and continuous until maximum produc- 
tion is reached. The duration of this interval varies in 
cows and in the same cow, owing in part at least to the 
condition of the udder. The greater the degree of in- 
flammation, which to some extent is frequently present at 
the time of calving, the longer is the time required. Usually 
maximum yields are reached in from two to three weeks 
from the date of calving. 

Alaximum yields having been reached, they remain 
normal for a time. This period is usually short, only cover- 
ing a few weeks at the longest. Its continuance is de- 
pendent to a considerable degree on the food fed, but it 
would seem also to be influenced to some degree by in- 
heritance and habit as well. Declension then begins grad- 
ually and continues at a ratio more or less regular, until 
milk giving finally ceases. Professor Sturtevant concludes 
that the average decrease in the milk yields from month to 
month is about 9 per cent. 

While the absolute amount of milk produced is largely 
dependent on the kind and amount of the food fed, it is 
by no means entirely so. No amount of food fed to two 
cows practically equal in milk giving power, can secure 
from them equal milk yields, when one is considerably 
more advanced in lactation than the other. Milk yields 
are largely dependent on the activity of the milk gland, 
which is greatest shortly after parturition, and which grad- 
ually lessens until finally it ceases altogether. Food that 
is eminently suitable and persistent and careful milking may 
greatly prolong the milk-giving period in the absence of 



MILK PRODUCTION 43 1 

renewal in the natural way, sometimes to the duration of 
two or three years, hut in such instances the yields become 
so small after a time as to prove unprofitable. 

It is also important that the milk yields shall be well 
sustained during the normal season for milk-giving, by 
feeding liberal supplies of suitable food. Should declension 
in milk yields result at a period unnecessarily soon, from 
want of food suitable and sufficient in quantity, and should 
the attempt be made to advance the milk, yields subsequently 
by giving proper food, it will be only partially successful. 
The yield may be increased but not to what it would have 
been under proper management. The increase possible 
would be proportionate to the extent of the declension in 
the milk yields, and to the duration of the period covered 
by such declension. 

During the period of highest milk yields, the cow and 
a.so other feiiiales generally lose more or less in flesh. The 
loss in body weight is proportionate to the relative milk 
yields, but it may be affected to some extent by other in- 
fluences such as inheritance and the nature of the food. As 
the milk yields decline, the lost weight is gradually re- 
stored under normal conditions, until it reaches the former 
level. 

Age ana milk production. — ]\Iilk producing capacit;/ 
in cows may be divided into three periods, as follows : ( i ) 
The period which leads up to maximum yields ; ( 2 ) the 
period of maximum yields; and (3) the period of declen- 
sion which follows. These vary in individual animals and 
to some extent in breeds. A good cow properly managed 
should be profitable in the dairy for nine or ten years. This 
period, however, is longer than the average dairy cow is 
retained in the average herd. Assuming that the cov/ 
produces profitably for, say nine years, the three periods 
above referred to will cover three years each. The discus- 
sion that follows is based on the assumption that cows 
come into milk when two years old, which is usually the 
case with dairy cows. 



432 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

During the first period; viz., from two to five years, 
there is gradual increase in milk-giving capacity. This in- 
crease is material, frequently amounting to considerably 
more than 50 per cent. The relatively low production dur- 
ing this period is caused in part by the diversion of food 
nutrients to promote increase in growth. This, however, 
does not furnish a complete explanation, as milk produc- 
tion increases more relatively than weight, and it continues 
for a time after increase in weight has ceased. It would 
seem fair to assume, that there is increase in capacity of 
function in the milk gland, the outcome in part at least of 
use, on the same principle that use strengthens any other 
organ of the body up to a certain limit. 

During the second period ; viz., from six to nine years, 
the yields should not vary much, but toward the latter 
portion of the same, the tendency toward declension is 
accentuated in many instances. On the whole, however, 
the years covered by this period are those of the most prof- 
itable production in the cow, notwithstanding the greater 
activity of the digestive and assimilative functions during 
the previous period. 

During the third period; viz., from nine to 12 years, 
the decline in production continues, although it is not rapid, 
not nearly so marked as a rule as the increase during the 
first period. The value of a cow in the dairy, therefore, is 
greater during the third period than during the first. 

It is to be understood, however, that in actual ex- 
perience, the variations may be considerable, owing to the 
way in which a cow is fed. The machinery of digestion 
may be driven at a rate so rapid through high feeding, 
that the first period may prove the most profitable, and 
that a cow's usefulness may be at an end before the close 
of the second period. In some Instances maximum produc- 
tion may not be reached until the seventh year, in other 
instances it is reached at five years, and yet again produc- 
tion may be more profitable in the ninth year than in the 
eig-hth. 



MILK PRODUCTION 433 

The relation between actual and profitable production 
is close and intimate. Actual production in the first period 
has been found by experiment to be less profitable the first 
period than the second, and more profitable the second 
than the third. In other words more food relatively is re- 
quired to produce lOO pounds of milk during the first 
than the second period and less food relatively during the 
second than the third. 

Large and small cows. — Authorities are not all agreed 
as to the relative profit from large and small cows, respec- 
tively. Such disagreement results probably from the ob- 
served fact that experience has shown that the bearing 
of size on production if operative at all, is much less so 
than that of various other influences apart from size, such 
as inheritance and individuality. The balance of testimony, 
however, favors the view that, other things being equal, 
large cows of the breed or grade are on the whole more 
profitable relatively than smaller ones. 

Three experiments conducted by Brandl with small 
and large sows, respectively, gave the following results : 
The small cows gave less milk relatively than the large 
ones, and consumed more food relatively in making it, but 
the milk was somewhat richer in fat. The result last stated 
is in keeping with the general relation between quantity in 
milk production and the fat which it contains, (see p. 42/). 
The large cows not only produced more milk relatively 
and absolutely than the small ones and on less feed relatively, 
but when farrow they proved more persistent milkers and 
sold at a greater relative profit per head, after having been 
kept almost a year. Fifteen of each class were included in 
the experiment, the average weight of the lighter cows be- 
ing 979 pounds and of the heavier 1,205 pounds. 

Woll gives a summary of the results of breed test 
No. I, conducted at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 
1893, and bearing on this question. The cows, 75 in num- 
ber, are divided into three groups, and each group con- 
tained the same number of Jerseys, Guernseys and Short- 



434 TEEUING FARM ANIMALS 

horns respectively. They are classified as light, medium 
and heavy. The cost of producing loo pounds of butter fat 
with these respective groups was $17.93, $17-79 ^^id $17.42. 

The following facts are noteworthy : ( i ) The 25 Jer- 
sey cows entered in the competition at the Lousiana Pur- 
chase Exposition in St. Louis, 1904, were considerably 
larger in size than the average of the breed. They weighed 
91 1.2 pounds on an average at the commencement of the 
test and 983 pounds at its close. These cows were used 
in a test of which economic production was a prominent 
factor. (2) The cows that have proved the world's record 
makers are considerably above the average in size. (3) The 
same is true of a majority of the cows entered in the vari- 
ous advanced registry associations. 

While the difference in relative profit from large and 
small cows respectively is not large, it unquestionably be- 
longs to those of large size. It is probably the outcome 01 
the relation between size and the relative amount of the 
food maintenance required. This in mature animals is 
even more than one half the entire ration. Probably more 
than nine-tenths of the heat generated by the food goes 
to supply the loss through radiation, perspiration and respi- 
ration. The loss through radiation is greater relatively in 
the small than in the large animal, owing to the relatively 
larger body surfaces in the former. 

But aside from relative milk production, there are 
some reasons why breeders should aim to produce relatively 
large rather than small cows for the treed. These include 
the following : ( i ) Good constitution and stamina are 
more frequently associated with well developed animals, in- 
cluding cows, than with those less well developed. (2) Uni- 
formity in size should be the aim of the breeder as an 
evidence of good and skilful breeding, and the standard 
thus set should favor at least average size for the breed, as 
a guaranty of the absence of degeneracy. (3) Animals of full 
size, or rather more, take the market more readily than those 
under size, whether sold for the dairy or the shambles. 



MILK PRODUCTION 435 

Relative milk-giving capacity. — But little information 
can be given with reference to the milk-giving capacity 
of any of the classes of live stock, except cows, that is based 
on American experience. Nor can it be said that the 
question is greatly important except in the prospective 
sense, that is, in so far as it relates to the possible sources 
other than cows, from which milk may be obtained. In 
discussing the question, therefore, something may be said: 
(i) Regarding the milk-giving capacity of cows; (2) the 
probable milk giving capacity of other domestic animals, 
as mares, ewes, and female goats, usually spoken of as 
nannies and (3) the probable sources of milk production in 
the future. 

The difference in capacity in cows to give milk, is 
simply surprising. In well regulated dairies, 6,000 pounds 
a year per cow may be set down as the minimum of pos- 
sible production. It would be safe to affirm that the average 
annual yield of all the cows milked at the present time in 
the United States and Canada is not more than half that 
amount. With individuals of some breeds and also of some 
grades, it is easily possible to obtain 10,000 pounds of milk 
a year without resorting to feeding unduly forced. For 
the facts regarding maximum production, see page 418, and 
for the discussion of the influences that affect quantity m 
production, see page 424. 

While no data based on American experience with 
reference to the amount of milk produced by mares dur- 
ing lactation is available, the average amount given by a 
mare is fully equal to and probably more than that given 
by the cow which merely suckles her calf up to the period 
of weaning. Basing the amount of milk given on the in- 
crease in the weight resulting, the average foal will con- 
sume more milk than the average calf. It would seem 
probable, therefore, that mares could be so managed as to 
produce milk yields fully equal to those of cows. At the 
Wisconsin experiment station it was ascertained that 
through weighing the lambs, both before and after nursing, 



436 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

certain grade Shropshire ewes gave from 2.51 to 3.96 
pounds daily. Experiments at the same station conducted 
similarly with sows of the lard types, found that they gave 
from 4.1 to 5.8 pounds daily. The tests were made at in- 
tervals during the nursing period. 

Under American conditions, it is more than probable 
that the cow will continue to be the source from which the 
greater portion of the milk needed will come. Mare's 
milk is not likely to be used as food for man, if for no 
other reason than the much greater ease with which cow's 
milk can be drawn from the udder. The milk breeds of 
sheep in certain areas of West Central Europe are credited 
with giving in response to hand milking, fully 8 pounds 
per day soon after coming into lactation. But, should even 
greater yields be obtainable, as doubtless they could be 
under judicious management, it may be said that, under 
American conditions, ewe's milk is not likely to supplant 
cow's milk for the reason, first, that cow's milk is more 
readily obtained; second, it is more difficult to rear lambs 
under artificial conditions than calves, and third, the sheep 
is much liable to be preyed upon by dogs. It may be 
different, however, with milking goats which have been 
recently introduced into America. It is not improbable that, 
in the future not distant, many artisans on the outskirts of 
cities may yet each keep his goat to supply fresh milk, 
for the family. They are much less dainty of their food 
than sheep, and are much less liable to be harmed. 

Protection for cows in summer. — In summer cows re- 
quire protection : ( i ) From the sun's rays when these are 
so warm as to produce discomfort; (2) from flies during 
the fly season and (3) from rain storms, cold, prolonged 
and severe. Neglecting to furnish any one of these will 
seriously lessen milk yields. While such protection is mark- 
edly beneficial to all classes of domestic animals, its im- 
portance is especially emphasized in the case of cows, be- 
cause of the relatively high value of the milk product which 
they furnish. 



MILK PRODUCTION 437 

Cows are, of course, protected from the suns rays 
when they are furnished with shade. This may come 
from trees growing in the pastures, singly or in chrnips, or 
in places accessible to them, by a cheap roof in the pasture 
sustained by poles and covered with straw, or by the stables 
in which they are kept in winter. Trees and roofs provided 
in the pastures answer the purpose until the season of flies. 
To shade from either of these sources during the continu- 
ance of the fly season, is the strong objection that they 
furnish breeding places in which flies multiply with great 
rapidity. This is owing to the droppings which accumulate 
in such centers in which the flies deposit their eggs. Be- 
cause of this, shade furnished by the stable is preferable, 
since when properly provided it is cooler, and as shown 
below, flies may be in a great measure excluded. Basement 
stables are especially suitable for summer ~ rotection because 
of their greater relative coolness. 

Absolute protection from flies in the fly season is not 
practical without excessive outlay in the materials used 
in spraying the animals, or in the labor involved in applying 
them, or in the two combined. Nevertheless very much 
may be done with profit to promote their comfort at such 
seasons. These methods of protection are adopted : ( i ) 
They are kept in stables during the day. These are 
thoroughly ventilated and yet kept so dark that flies 
do not care to stay, much less to work in them; (2) 
they are sprayed with some preparation offensive 
to the flies, either through its odor or its stickv 
character, with sufficient frequency to effect the purpose 
and (3) they are covered with blankets, light, coarse and 
cheap, and these are kept in place by elastic bands, so that 
the underline also is protected. 

Of these three methods, the first is unquestionably the 
best, as it furnishes more of coolness than the other forms 
of shade, gives the most perfect of the three forms of 
protection from flies, and makes it easily practicable to 
give the cows supplemental food which is necessary during 



438 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

much of the grazing season. The chief objectien to it is 
the labor involved in removing the droppings, but this 
is largely offset by the increased value of the same as com- 
pared with having it deposited in the pastures where much 
waste follows. Much may also be done to prevent the 
multiplication of flies by promptly removing all the manure 
from the yards in the spring, and by drawing daily or at 
quite short intervals that made subsequently and applying 
it when needed. A free use of lime in the yards is also 
further helpful. The methods of darkening and ventilating 
the stables, the mixtures used in spraying and the exact 
nature of the blankets are foreign to the design of this 
work and will be discussed in one that is to follow on the 
Feeding and Management of Cattle. 

Gentle summer rains do not harm cows in milk while 
in the pastures. They may prove grateful to them. It is 
different with violent rains. Even though not cold, they 
are in some degree harmful. But most of all is exposure 
to long and cold rains harmful, and all the more so when 
these are intense. Such rains occasionally occur both in 
the late spring and the early autumn, lasting in some in- 
stances for three days at a time. Prolonged exposure to 
one such storm may result in a lessened milk flow which 
may not be recovered from for many days. The wisdom of 
housing milch cows at night as soon as the nights are 
cool enough to produce any discomfort, will be readily 
apparent. 

Shelter for cows in winter. — The necessity for provid- 
ing cows with suitable shelter in winter is based: (i) On 
the relative inability of the system to resist the influences 
of low temperatures when not in high flesh; (2) on the 
marked susceptibility of the function of milk secretion to 
changes of temperature, especially to those that bring cold, 
and (3) because of the favorable influence which furnish- 
ing such protection exerts on the economy of production. 

The cow in milk usually carries only a- moderate 
amount of flesh and but little fat. On the other hand, the 



MILK TROUUCTION 439 

cattle beast that is being fattened usually soon lays on a 
covering of external fat, which goes far to protect the 
system from the penetrating influences of cold. Expose 
a milch cow in moderate or lean flesh to cold beyond a 
certain degree, and soon she stands with the back drawn 
up as an evidence of her discomfort. The fat steer 
similarly exposed will show no signs of discomfort. 

The susceptibility of the function of milk secretion to 
the influence of low temperatures is shown by the quick- 
ness of the reduction which takes place in the milk yields 
consequent upon such exposure, and by the constancy of 
the same. The effect of such exposure will be manifest in 
the shrinkage in yield in the first milking following, and 
in every succeeding milking during the continuance of the 
exposure. If continued for a period of considerable length, 
the result will be that the yields will not become normal 
again, though the cause of the reduction should be removed. 
It is probably caused to some extent by the relaxed and 
somewhat reduced condition of the system consequent up- 
on maternity, and in part by the diversion of a portion of 
the nutrients that would otherwise be concerned in making 
milk to the defense of the system against the cold. 

In an experiment conducted at the Indiana experiment 
station, it was found that the cows that were housed during 
the 48 days of the experiment, gained in flesh considerably, 
while the latter lost flesh. The former also gave consid- 
erably more milk on less feed. Professor Plumb, who 
conducted the experiment, concludes that a saving of $4.26 
per cow was effected by the shelter furnished, not- 
withstanding that the cows exposed were given the pro- 
tection of an open shed in a sheltered place, and that they 
were not confined to it daily for a longer period than eight 
hours in the warmer portion of the day. 

In view of the above, the following practices are to be 
deprecated : ( i ) Allowing cows in milk to roam through 
corn stalk 'fields in winter in search of what is at best in- 
ferior milk producing food; (2) allowing such cows to 



440 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

remain out on pasture after the nights begin to turn cold 
or even during the day in weather that produces discom- 
fort because of its inclemency; (3) allowing them to stay 
in the yard during the larger portion of even mild days 
in winter, because of the fact that they rest more con- 
tentedly in their accustomed stalls. 

The nature of the protection required will depend upon 
such conditions as the character of the climate and the cost 
of providing it. The question cannot be discussed here 
further than to say, that it matters not what the nature of 
the materials may be which furnish it, providing it secures 
a temperature between 40 to 60° in winter, ample light, 
freedom from dampness and a constant supply of pure 
air. It should also be mentioned that cows not in milk 
gather more reserve power for the milking period whicli 
follows when given large liberty and more exposure dur- 
ing the non-milk-giving interval. 

Feeding grain to cows on pasture. — The discussion 
of this question involves the consideration : ( i ) Of the 
direct return in milk and butter fat from feeding the grain ; 
(2) the residual effect from such feeding; (3) the saving 
effected in the pasture and (4) the influence on fertiliza- 
tion. Notwithstanding that several trials have been con- 
ducted at various experiment stations, practical men are 
much divided in their opinions with reference to the ad- 
vantage from feeding grain to cows on pasture. 

Judged by the direct results obtained from feeding 
grain to cows on succulent and abundant pastures, the 
conclusion would be reached that there is no profit in 
such feeding. In nearly all the trials made there was in- 
crease in the milk yields and consequently in the butter 
fat, but not in the percentage of the same. The increased 
return did not in all instances pay for the grain, but it did 
in some instances. Little or no direct profit, however, re- 
sulted. Rut there was more increase in weight from the 
animals to which grain was given, which so far meant a 



MILK PRODUCTION 44I 

laying up as it were of reserve power in the system, to be 
utilized in future production. 

By the residual effects from feeding grain to cows on 
pasture is meant the influence which such feeding exerts 
on future production, more especially on production th.e 
following season. An interesting trial was conducted at 
the Cornell experiment station in order to throw light 
upon this question. Six cows which had been fed grain 
somewhat freely the previous summer and six that had 
not been so fed were grazed in the same pasture. In the 
test now considered no grain was given to either lot. The 
return from the lot which had been fed grain the previous 
season was i6 per cent greater than that from the cows in 
the other lot. The heifers in the grain-fed lot also made 
better development, which meant the promise of superior 
future usefulness. These results coincide with the opinions 
of many practical men regarding the utility of feeding a 
light ration of grain to cows in milk through all the season 
of pasturing. 

The saving effected in the pasture is in some instances 
an item of material importance, although in some of these 
trials it has apparently been lost sight of. It is fair 
to assume that a pound of dry matter fed in the 
form of grain will effect a saving of an equal amount 
of dry matter in the form of pasture. This would be of 
little or no importance where the pasture is superabundant, 
but when pasture is insufficient in supply as is frequently 
the case, the importance of such a saving would be material. 

The influence on fertilization would also mean some- 
thing. It would depend on the kind and amount of the 
grain or meal fed. If cottonseed meal or wheat bran were 
fed, the enrichment added in the droppings would be ma- 
terial. The advantage, however, from such fertilization, 
would be much less than would result from feeding the 
same amount of grain or meal to sheep that are being grazed. 

The whole question may be summed up as follows : 
(i) When cows are first turned out on grass in the spring, 



442 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS | 

grain feeding should be continued at least for a time because 
of the corrective influence which it has on the tendency to 
undue laxity in the bowels caused by the grass; (2) 
whether grain is fed or not during the week3 when grass 
is abundant and succulent, it should be fed as soon as the 
pasture becomes insufficient in quantity or dry in character; 
(3) that when pasture is abundant and succulent no direct 
profit will be obtained in the return in milk. But, (4) when 
the residual effects are considered on future production, 
the saving that is effected in the pasture, and also the re- 
sults on fertilization, it would seem profitable in all or 
nearly all instances to feed more or less grain at all times 
to cows on pasture. The only exception would be, instances 
in which the pasture supply for the season exceeded the 
needs of the cows. But, the amount fed should, of course, 
be much less when pasture is at its best than at other 
times. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

CONSIDERATIONS THAT RELATE TO GENERAL 
FEEDING. 

Prominent among the considerations that relate to 
general feeding are the following. 

I. Generous feeding during pregnancy. 



9 

lO 

II 

12 
13 
14 
15 
16 



Feeding the first milk. 

Food for maintenance. 

Growth and future production. 

Foods vary in adaptation. 

Foods that influence digestion. 

When to feed concentrates. 

Proportion of concentrates to roughage. 

Changing foods. 

Adjusting foods and needs of animals. 

Foods, home grown or purchased. 

Relative food values. 

Sustaining power of pastures. 

Condimental foods. 

The place for self-feeders. 

Relative profits from domestic animals. 
These are discussed in the order named. 
Generous feeding during pregnancy. — The opinion 
has become widely prevalent that what may be termed high 
condition or fleshiness in the pregnant dam tells adversely 
on reproduction. It has been claimed that it tells adversely 
on the development of the young animal in itfero and that 
it is the harbinger of trouble at the time of parturition. 
This opinion rests doubtless on the observed facts, that the 
progeny of very fat dams when born is of small size, and 
that trouble does arise more frequently with such dams 
and also with their progeny at paturition than with dams 
less fleshy. But it fails to take into account the source from 
which the fat has come, as is shown below. In discussing 

443 



444 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

this subject, it will be safe to affirm: (i) That the food 
of dams that are pregnant should be generous; (2) that 
it should be richer for pregnant dams that are immature 
than for those that are mature, and (3) that when harm 
comes to such dams or their progeny from liberal feeding, 
it is because the ration is unsuitable in kind, rather than 
in quantity. 

Dams that are pregnant should be fed generously for 
the following reasons : First, at such a time they are sus- 
taining two animals. The food which results in develop- 
ment of the embryo comes, of course, from the dam. Oth- 
erwise she would utilize it herself as far as necessary to 
meet her needs. Second, because of the heavy drain upon 
the system of the dam in supplying the progeny with milk 
after birth. She is almost certain to loose flesh at such 
a time and all the more so if she is a generous milker. This 
loss in some instances is not less than 100 pounds within 
say 150 days of the time of calving even though the feeding 
is generous. This means that to some extent she draws 
upon certain of the organized constituents or materials of 
her system, particularly the fat to furnish food for her young 
offspring. The more fleshy she is at the time of parturition, 
the more of this reserve is there to draw from, the less 
will she suffer from emaciation, and the more generously 
will the progeny be maintained. Third, it is almost im- 
possible to prevent some loss of flesh in a generous milk- 
ing dam for a time at least, during the early part of the 
milk giving period, howsoever liberal the feeding may be. 
If such a dam is in low flesh at the time of parturition, the 
further loss of flesh which follows lowers her vital energies 
to such an extent that her progeny is not so well sustained, 
and her future usefulness is so far lessened. Her system 
must be built up again before profitable conception will 
follow. 

When pregnant dams are immature, a threefold burden 
is put upon them. The first is, that of maintenance ; the sec- 
ond, that of nourishing the embryo, and the third, that of 



GENERAL FEEDING 445 

further development. It is very evident that more food rela- 
tively must be given to such an animal than to one mature, 
and that it should also be richer relatively in protein to sus- 
tain properly the dual development that is required. With 
such a division of the energies of the system, poor feeding 
would be doubly harmful. 

It would seem correct to say, that when pregnant ani- 
mals are supplied with food rightly balanced as to its nutri- 
ents, and with proper adjustment between the roughage and 
concentrates, they are not much likely to accumulate flesh 
to the extent of working harm to themselves or to then- 
young. It is when the nutrients are not rightly balanced 
that such harm occurs. This may and does happen, when 
sows for instance are fed mainly on corn while pregnant, 
or when cows in a similar condition are fed mainly on 
carbonaceous food, such as rye and corn fodder. In ad- 
dition to possessing a large proportion of protein, the food 
for such animals should be of such a character as to keep 
the digestion correct. Constipation is to be carefully 
avoided. The judicious feeding of such supplements as 
bran, oil cake and field roots at such a time is to be strongly 
commended. Instances may also occur when the animals 
would become so fleshy as to disincline them to take enough 
exercise for the well-being of their unborn progeny, but 
usually this occurs only when the carbonaceous elements in 
the ration are in excess. 

Feeding the first milk. — The properties of the milk 
first drawn from the dam after parturition are very differ- 
ent, in degree at least, from those which it possesses when 
normal. This milk, known as the colostrum, is more dense 
in its consistency and yellow in color than natural milk. 
The protein, that is the casein and albumen, in the first milk 
of the cow, is about five times the amount of these products 
in ordinary cow's milk and may considerably exceed the 
proportions named. But it is much lower in milk sugar and 
is also lower in fat. The composition of the first milk is 
a provision of nature to meet the needs of the newly born 



446 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

progeny. In addition to providing nourishment, it tends 
to cleanse the intestines, and thus to pave the way for 
the natural processes of digestion. 

The importance of giving such milk to the young ani- 
mal as its first meal cannot be over-estimated. In its ab- 
sence, constipation is likely to follow, which will terminate 
fatally, unless relieved. No substitute can be given that 
will in every respect take the place of colostrum. Even 
though it is known that the dam is tubercular, it would 
be a mistake to withhold her milk from her young calf, 
until the processes of digestion have been properly begun. 
The laxative properties of the milk would seem to make 
such feeding safe. 

But it sometimes happens that colostrum cannot be ob- 
tained from the dam of the young animal, as in instances 
when the dam dies while bringing forth her progeny. In 
such instances, if colostrum can be obtained from some other 
dam of the same species, it will usually effect the end 
sought. This, however, is seldom possible, hence, it may be 
necessary to administer some substances that will cleanse 
the digestive tract before any food is given. Castor oil is 
generally used for this purpose. The ordinary dose for a 
colt or a calf is an ounce ; for a lamb, a teaspoonful, and 
for a young pig, about half a teaspoonful. Sometimes an 
injection of warm water will effect the end sought. In 
other instances, an injection should accompany the ad- 
ministering of the purgative, as the latter, especially in 
the case of foals, will not in all instances effect the end 
sought without such aid. 

When accident occurs so that the dam's milk cannot 
be given, the substitute on which nearly all domestic animals 
must be reared is cow's milk. This differs materially in its 
constituents from the milk of other domestic animals. Cow's 
milk is much richer in casein and albumen, also in fat than 
mare's milk, hence, when it is substituted for mare's milk, 
it is customary to add one part water to two or three parts 
of the milk, and also to add a teaspoonful of common sugar 



GENERAL FEEDING 447 

to each quart of the milk thus diluted. Ewe's milk is much 
richer in protein and fat than cow's milk. When cow's milk 
is substituted, cream .added is helpful as intimated previ- 
ously, but the strippings . from the cow will probably be 
even more suitable. Sow's milk is richer in all constituents 
than cow's milk, hence when the latter is fed to pigs quite 
young, the addition of some cream and sugar would 
probably make it more suitable for them. 

It should be noticed, however, that such feeding ap- 
plies to the first days and it may be weeks of feed- 
ing, rather tlian to giving the first meal. The additions 
mentioned will not make cow's milk to closely resemble 
colostrum in its properties. It only makes it to approximate 
the milk of other animals in its constituents under normal 
conditions, hence the wisdom of the treatment referred to 
when colostrum cannot be obtained. 

Food for maintenance. — Food for maintenance means 
the amount of food that will keep an animal from gaining 
or losing when at rest, that is, when not producing in the 
form of meat, milk or labor, and when not taking more 
exercise than is really necessary in order to maintain 
health. It is frequently referred to as the food of support. 
To find the food for maintenance, as practically applied to 
animals of all classes and ages, furnishes a complicated 
problem, owing to the variation caused by growth and in- 
dividuality. Because of this, experiments in regard to it 
have been conducted more frequently with mature animals. 
However, the following may be safely affirmed with regard 
to it: (i) It increases with reference to the total nutrients 
required with advancing age; (2) production is not pos- 
sible, unless the food given exceeds the amount required 
for maintenance; (3) the profit from food consumed is 
proportionate to the amount of the same that is properly 
assimilated when suitable in kind. 

That more food would be required for maintenance 
up to maturity is apparent, from the larger bulk in the 
animal economy to be maintained. That more is required 



448 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

also after maturity has been reached and as age advances, 
is evident as a result of the less perfect assimilation of the 
food consumed as the animal grows older. Individuality 
also exercises an influence, as animals of the same breed, 
sex and age, differ much in their ability to assimilate food. 
Armsby, quoting from German investigations, gives the 
following with reference "to the food of maintenance called 
for to support I, GOO pounds of live weight with oxen and 
sheep : Oxen required daily, 0.6 pound digestible protein 
and 7.5 pounds digestible non-nitrogenous nutrients. The 
coarse wooled breeds of sheep required, 1.2 pounds and 
10.8 pounds, and the fine wooled breeds, 1.5 pounds and 
12 pounds respectively, of these nutrients. 

That production of any kind is not possible unless the 
amount of food given exceeds the amount for maintenance 
is self-evident. Notwithstanding, the instances are frequent 
on the farm where the food of support is all that is required. 
Such is frequently the case with horses that are being car- 
ried through the winter. There may be instances when iL" 
is judicious to feed a quantity somewhat short of main- 
. tenance as when animals designed for breeding carry 
an excess of flesh, or when show animals are to be reducea 
temporarily, subsequently to the season during which they 
have been exhibited. 

That the profit from the food consumed is proportion- 
ate to the amount that is properly assimilated, is also self- 
evident, hence the wisdom of feeding animals in excess of 
the needs of maintenance, according to the production re- 
quired of them. Pregnant animals must be given more 
than the food of maintenance to develop the foetus which 
they carry. Horses at work must be given food in 
excess of maintenance according to the work required of 
them. Cows in milk should be given all the suitable food 
that they can properly digest without overtaxing the di- 
gestion, and the same is true of animals that are being 
fattened. Growing animals shoidd be given enough suit- 
able food to produce full development and proper in kind 



GENERAL FEEDING 449 

within the shortest period that this may be attainable. To 
withhold rations from animals up to the limit stated is false 
economy. In the aggregate the amount thus lost in the 
maintenance of live stock is very great. More than half 
the food fed to live stock is used as food for maintenance. 

Growth and future production. — If maximum produc- 
tion is to be obtained from domestic animals, they must 
be fed and managed at all times with reference to future 
production. This principle applies : ( i ) To the nourish- 
ment of the foetus carried by the pregnant animal; (2) to 
periods of arrested development at any time prior to ma- 
turity; (3) to the growing of animals with reference to the 
production of milk, meat or labor; (4) to the foods used in 
making growth with reference to future growth, and (5) to 
the over-taxing of the physical powers, whether digestive 
or muscular. 

Unless the young animal in utero is properly sustained 
through suitable food taken by the dam, it begins life 
with a handicap, which no food or care subsequently can 
ever completely overcome. The food and management of 
the dam, therefore, during the entire period of pregnancy 
will exert an influence on the producing capacity of the 
progeny during the whole of the life period. (See p. 124.) 
For the discussion of arrested development and the in- 
fluences that result from it, see page 65. 

If the heifer is to produce milk abundantly in the dairy 
during development, the habit must not be encouraged of 
laying on fat beyond a certain limit. But this idea in 
practice must not be carried to the extent of in any way 
hindering a vigorous and robust development. On the 
other hand, if the young animal is grown to furnish meat, 
good steady growth which carries along with it a reason- 
able amount of fat will influence favorably future produc- 
tion. If food is insufficient in quantity or nutrition, or 
excessive in both respects, the influence on future produc- 
tion will be unfavorable. Likewise if the growing colt is 
fed improperly for the end for which it is being grown, the 
results will be disappointing. 



450 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

The influence which food has upon future develop- 
ment is very potent. Feed a young animal on food low 
relatively in mineral matter and protein and the frameworlc 
is deficient and weak, while it carries too large a propor- 
tion of fat. The outcome is dwarfed development. Corn 
when fed to excess produces these results. This has been 
abundantly shown by experiments at the Wisconsin station 
and also in the experience of individual feeders. Swine 
grown largely on pasture, succulent and nourishing, as 
clover, alfalfa or rape, will make greater and more pro- 
longed gains than those grown entirely on grains. Suc- 
culent foods also put cattle and sheep into that "sappy," 
condition of flesh that is favorable to quick gains and pro- 
longed fattening. Present results, therefore, are not the 
only returns obtained by feeding certain foods. The skilled 
fitter of show animals feeds foods that will insure size, and 
enough but not too much of flesh to ripen the animal too 
soon. It is thus prepared for the highest pressure feeding, 
until within a reasonable time of the show season. Such 
feeding is reserved for the last spurt, as it were, since if this 
were done too soon, the necessary bloom, that is fine ap- 
pearance, could not be maintained. 

The influence of driving the machinery of the digestion 
at too rapid a rate is discussed elsewhere. (See p. 115, al- 
so p. ^tyy^. Overwork in the young animal hinders develop- 
ment and correspondingly hinders useful performance. 
Overwork in the mature animal lessens future usefulness 
and shortens the period of the same. 

Foods vary in adaptation. — Foods vary in their adap- 
tation not only for animals of the same class at dififerent 
ages, but also for -Animals of different classes. Due recogni- 
tion must be given to those variations by those who are 
to make a success of growing live stock. That foods vary 
in their adaptation for animals of the same class at dif- 
ferent ages is self-evident, but the precise nature of the 
adaptation calls for careful thought and forethought, that a 
proper supply of each factor may be on hand when wanted. 



GENERAL FEEDING 45 1 

It is important, for instance, that calves shall be given hay, 
fine and well cured. Cattle one or two years old may utilize, 
without any loss, fodders much coarser and rougher. To 
have a supply of such hay for calves, calls for forethought 
in growing the same, in cutting it at the proper stage of 
growth, in curing it, and in storing it so as to be accessible 
when wanted. The same is true of food provision in other 
lines. 

The variations in foods for the different classes of Hve 
stock are much greater than for those of the same class. 
They are : ( i ) Such as grow out of the necessities arising 
from original bestowment; (2) such as relate to digestive 
peculiarities and the needs growing out of these, and (3) 
those which are at least measurably qualified by the nature 
of the production required. These are additional to varia- 
tions called for by variations in age. 

Nature made the ox graminivorous, hence, grasses and 
grains are the proper food of cattle. Likewise it made the 
pig omnivorous, hence, swine may properly be given a much 
wider range of foods than would be suitable for cattle. Ani- 
mal food may be fed with advantage betimes to calves in 
the form of blood meal, but flesh is so foreign to the needs 
of cattle that it is ill-adapted to supplying these. Not so, 
however, is it in regard to swine. Tankage has proved 
a profitable food for swine, and it is possible to maintain 
them on the offal of slaughter-houses alone. Nature has 
made the sheep dainty as to the condition in which food 
is given to it, hence, unless good in quality, it will reject it, 
except under the pressure of hunger. On the other hand, 
swine will consume offal to such an extent that they may 
be regarded as scavengers. 

The greater relative ability of cattle and sheep to di- 
gest bulky foods as compared with horses, and especially 
with swine, is discussed elsewhere, (see p. 456). Experience 
has shown that meal is best administered to cattle in the 
dry form, but to swine after having been soaked. It should 



452 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

be given to swine directly and without admixture, where- 
as for cattle, it is deemed preferable to mix it with a cer- 
tain amount of more bulky food. Nearly all kinds of grain 
are ground before being fed to cattle, a process of prepara- 
tion not deemed necessary when feeding them to sheep. 

The kind of production called for has a powerful in- 
fluence in determining how foods may best be used. Tim- 
othy hay, for instance, has high adaptation for feeding 
horses, since it is well adapted to furnishing heat and 
energy, and is not so laxative as alfalfa and some other 
foods. As a fodder for horses, it is considered inferior to 
clover. For cows it is not considered equal to clover, and 
for sheep its adaptation is considerably lower, especially 
if coarse and harvested late. Succulent food such as soil- 
ing foods, corn silage and field roots, are admirable for milk 
production, also young grass, whereas to give the same in 
large quantity to horses, when hard at work would be very 
unwise. In furnishing pasture such adaptation should also 
be studied. The rape plant, for instance, is probably with- 
out a rival in its adaptation in providing pasture for sheep, 
whereas, it is ill-suited to providing pasture for horses at 
work. The importance of using foods in the best line of 
their adaptation cannot be easily over estimated. 

Foods that influence digestion favorably. — (i) Some 
foods in addition to the sustenance which they furnish, ex- 
ercise an influence on digestion so salutary as to place 
their value as foods far away above what is represented by 
the nutrients which they contain and the digestibility of 
the same; (2) the influence thus exerted tends to correct 
the harmful results that grow out of constipation or un- 
due laxness of the bowels, according to the kind of food ; 
(3) because of this, when used mainly to give proper tone 
to' the digestion, the real value of such foods is usually far 
above their market value; (4) when fed mainly for such a 
use, small and moderate rather than large quantities should 
be fed. 



GENERAL FEEDING 453 

The list of these foods inckides all kinds of field roots, 
as turnips, rutabagas, mangels, sugar beets, carrots, and 
parsnips. It also includes such by-products as wheat bran, 
oil cake of various kinds ; such fodders as alfalfa and 
clover; such green foods as grass and rape ; grass in dif- 
ferent stages of maturity and condiments of a salutary 
character, as salt and mixtures that act as a tonic when fed. 

\11 kinds of field roots, bran and oil cake have a 
tenaency to relieve constipation and are possessed of high- 
est value when fed with dry food, as straw for instance, 
in winter. The real value of these foods fed to animals 
on succulent pastures would therefore be much less than 
the value when fed with foods that tend to constipate. Al- 
falfa and clovers tend to correct digestion according as 
they are fed. When fed along with a food too constipating, 
they exercise some influence in correcting such a condition, 
but when fed along with green food such as tends to 
produce scouring, the effect is the opposite. Grass, rape 
and also alfalfa and clovers fed in the green form in suit- 
able quantities all tend to counteract constipation, but grass 
more or less matured, on the other hand, tends to correct 
scouring. Salt, though not a food at all in the sense of 
furnishing nutrients, exercises, nevertheless, a salutary in- 
fluence .on digestion when fed in due proportion, (see 
p. 521). And the condiments referred to tend to stimulate 
the digestive organs to increased action (see p. 469). 

The real value of such foods will vary in proportion 
to the extent to which they tend to correct digestion. When 
the necessity for such a correction is not present, the nu- 
trients which they possess and the digestibility of the same 
is the true measure of their value. Because of this, the 
aim should be to feed them in a way that will add to their 
value. Field roots, for instance, may be fed to the extent 
of being a chief source of nutrition, but when so fed they 
will probably prove relatively an expensive food, whereas 
if they were fed in limited quantity as a corrective to di- 
gestion, they would be found relatively a very cheap food. 



454 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

The wisdom, therefore, of feeding foods when thus 
used in moderate quantities wih be apparent. The amounts 
required will of course vary with the necessities which each 
individual instance gives rise to, hence no hard and fast 
rules can be formulated in regard to feeding them. It 
would seem approximately correct to say, however, that 
from one-fourth to one-third of the amount fed on the 
basis of the nutrients contained, will usually effect the 
end sought. To illustrate : Should a dairy cow be fed 8 
pounds of bran when bran is fed alone as the meal portion, 
from 2 to 3 pounds along with other meal would act as 
a regulator of digestion. 

When to feed concentrates. — Nutrients in tne form 
of concentrates are usually more costly than an equal quan- 
tity of the same in the form of roughage. The supply of 
the latter is also generally more abundant on the farm 
than the supply of the former. Because of this, practical 
growers of live stock have erred in the extent to which 
they have fed roughage and withheld concentrates. This 
is especially true in corn-growing areas where much of 
the fodder grown is never reaped, and in grain-growing 
areas where much of. the straw grown is still burned. It 
is important, therefore, to know when to feed concentrates 
and when to withhold them. 

It will always be in order to feed grain : ( i ) To foals 
that are nursing and especially at, and subsequent to the 
weaning period; (2) to dams that suckle them when not 
on pasture, plentiful and succulent and (3) to horses when 
at work. If the pastures are particularly good, nursing 
foals may do without grain without detriment, till toward 
the weaning season, but grain fed to them would not in 
any sense be wasted. With good protein fodders and corn 
ensilage in winter, nursing dams may require but little 
grain. The amount required by horses at work is gauged 
chiefly by the character and amount of the work done. It 
will usually be in order to feed a limited amount of grain 
to foals that are growing in the winter season, more es- 



GENERAL FEEDING ^ 455 

pecially during the first winter. The amount called for will 
depend chiefly on the character of the roughage fed, but 
the necessity for feeding more than 2 to 4 pounds per 
animal seldom exists. As a rule mature horses that are 
idle do not require grain until within a few weeks of the 
time labor begins. 

It will in nearly all instances be found profitable to 
feed concentrates to cattle under the following conditions : 
(i) To calves that are being reared on skim milk and to 
all calves from the weaning period onward for a time; (2) 
to young animals that are being grown to furnish baby 
beef (see p. 402) ; (3) to cattle that are being fattened 
under all conditions of fattening; (4) to cows in milk 
during the entire period of lactation. A liberal supply will 
be in order for calves grown on skim milk (see p. 404), and 
those grown for baby beef should be given practically all 
they will consume without injury. The amount fed to 
cattle that are being fattened may be much reduced when 
they are on good grass, and possibly withheld for a time, 
(see p. 398). The necessity for feeding large amounts 
of grain to cows in milk on good pasture is still in a way, 
an open question (see p. 440), but it is about cer- 
tain that to feed a limited amount to cattle that 
are being fattened and to cows in milk will be at- 
tended with some profit. It will usually be profitable to 
feed calves 2 or 3 pounds of grain per animal per day the first 
winter, and also the second winter, if they are to be finished 
on grass the following summer. It may not be profitable 
to feed grain to young cattle after the first winter where the 
grazing is abundant. It is not usually necessary to feed 
it to heifers intended for the dairy, except for a time, sub- 
sequently to weaning. Nor is it usually necessary to feed 
grain to cows not in milk. 

Sheep will profit from being given concentrates under 
the following conditions : ( i ) It will always be in order to 
feed grain to lambs before the season of grazing and subse- 
quently if they are to be sold as milk lambs ; (2) to lambs for 



456 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

a time subsequently to the weaning period under arable con- 
ditions, unless they can be provided with rich pasture such as 
rape furnishes ; {^) to pregnant ewes when in the yards and 
also after parturition and (4) to sheep and lambs that are 
being fattened except when grazed on rape. Milk lambs 
may be given all they will consume, and pregnant ewes a 
small allowance before lambing, but liberal feeding subse- 
quently. Whether grain will be profitable if fed to sheep 
and lambs that are being fattened on rape, will depend 
upon such conditions as relative values. Shearliug ewes do 
not usually require grain winter or summer, nor do breed- 
ing ewes ordinarily need it when on good pasture. 

It will be found profitable to feed grain to swine at all 
times, with one exception. The exception is that of ma- 
ture, brood sows on good pastures, when only one litter is 
required of them each year. Young pigs that are nursing 
and for some weeks subsequently should be given all the 
grain that they will take. Later when on good pasture, 
about half the normal grain ration that would be necessary 
were they confined will suffice. During the fattening pe- 
riod, they should be given all they will consume with a 
relish. 

Proportion of concentrates to roughage. — In dis- 
cussing this question it may certainly be assumed: (i) 
That roughage has a mission in addition to furnishing 
nutriment to animals ; viz., the proper distension and en- 
largement of the digestive organs in all animals, especially 
ruminants; (2) that roughage is more plentiful relatively 
than concentrates and because more plentiful it furnishes 
nutrients relatively more cheaply than grain and (3) that 
because of the above the aim should be to utilize roughage to 
the greatest extent consistent with highest profit in the 
live stock so fed. 

The necessity for feeding roughage to horses, cattle, 
sheep and swine is based on the need for proper distension 
of the digestive organs to enable animals to consume larger 
quantities of food than would otherwise be utilized. The 



GENERAL FEEDING 457 

necessity for feeding it in relatively larger quantities to 
ruminants than to horses or swine is indicated in the rela- 
tively greater capacity they have for storing it and also 
for grinding large quantites of it in the process of rumina- 
tion to prepare it for digestion. When young animals are 
given too large a proportion relatively of concentrates dur- 
ing the growing period, for want of sufficient distension iii 
the digestive organs, they are unable to take sufficiently 
large quantities of food and especially of roughage, com- 
patible with highest production. This is evidenced in the 
want of largest attainable growth, even in ,swine that are 
reared entirely on a concentrated grain ration in addition to 
the food furnished by the dam during the nursing period. 
Such distension is of highest relative importance in the 
dairy cow, because of the necessity that requires her to 
consume relatively large quantities of food in proportion" 
to her weight to properly sustain the milk flow. It is pos- 
sible to sustain ruminants that are mature for considerable 
periods without apparent injury, as was shown several 
years ago in the experiment of Mr. Linus W. Miller of 
New York, who successfully wintered during several sea- 
sons dry dairy cows on a ration of corn meal and water. 
But that such feeding is practical is of but little economic 
importance, because of the greater cheapness relatively 
of roughage. 

The greater plentifulness and subsequently greater 
relative cheapness of roughage arises, first from the fact 
that large quantities are furnished along with grain when 
growing the latter; second, large quantities may be grown 
and cheaply which furnish little or no grain relatively, as 
in the case of corn fodder grown thickly; and third, the 
entire grass and hay crops consist of roughage without 
grain, except when grown to provide seed for sowing. 
Roughage, therefore, will always furnish nutrients rela- 
tively cheaper than concentrates with rare exceptions. But 
this is in some degree ofifset by the higher relative diges- 
tibility of concentrates. 



458 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

The wisdom of trying to utilize roughage to the great- 
est extent practicable will be apparent from what has been 
said. It is simply impossible to lay down rules that will 
apply in every case as to the proportion of roughage and 
concentrates that shall be fed respectively. Much must be 
left to the judgment of the intelligent feeder, but some 
things may be said that should prove helpful to the less 
experienced. These include the following : ( i ) Young 
animals including foals, calves, lambs and pigs should be 
provided with all the roughage that they will consume from 
the time when they begin to feed upon it to insure the 
requisite distension in the digestive organs; (2) to encour- 
age them to take such food, it should be provided for them 
superior in quality and possessed of high palatability ; (3) 
with animals grown for future breeding or labor the rela- 
tive proportion of roughage to concentrates should increase 
until they are matured; (4) the proportion of concentrates 
to roughage in feeding mature horses may extend from 
none at all with idle horses to considerably more than 50 
per cent in digestible nutrients with horses at hard labor ; 
(5) the proportion with mature cattle that are being fat- 
tened or with those nearing maturity may run all the way 
between ^;^ and 66 per cent according to the character of the 
nutrients in the roughage and the duration of the feeding 
period; (6) the proportion with cows in milk may range 
between 2i3 and 50 per cent of all the nutrients, according 
to the nature of the roughage fed, but when on pasture 
it may be less than 33 per cent even to the extent of not 
feeding any; (7) the proportion with sheep that are being 
fattened should range between 33 and 66 per cent of all 
the nutrients, also based on their character and the duration 
of the feeding period; (8) the proportion with swine be- 
tween weaning and fattening should be in the neighbor- 
hood of 50 to 65 per cent of all the nutrients, and for all 
other swine, save breeding animals when not producing, it 
should run from 75 to lOO per cent; (9) roughage fed in 



GENERAL FEEDING 459 

the form of legumes of high palatabiHty lessens the re- 
quirement in concentrates in proportion as the former are 
fed; (lo) this reduction ,may in some instances be fully 
50 per cent, as when cattle and sheep that are being fat- 
tened and cows in milk are being fed freely on high class 
clover or alfalfa hay. 

It is to be borne in mind that the figures submitted 
above are to be regarded as only approximate. They are 
intended to be general rather than specific guides. 

Changing foods. — In discussing this question, it is safe 
to affirm : (^ i ) That any marked change in the diet of 
farm animals should be made gradually; (2) that a change 
from dry food to pasture in the spring will result in a loss 
in live weight if made suddenly and (3) that changing 
from plentiful pastures in the autumn to dry feed will also 
result in lessened gains for a time, unless made with great 
care. 

Sudden changes in the food given to animals are to 
be avoided, for the reason that the digestive system has 
in many instances shown that it is unable to accommodate 
itself at once to such a change, hence digestive derangement 
follows, which in all instances means loss. Such changes 
sometimes result in scouring, as when animals are changed 
suddenly from a dry to a watery diet, as for instance from 
winter to summer food, or when large quantities of field 
roots are quickly added to the winter ration, also when 
large quantities of the tops of field roots are added to the 
autumn pastures. Sometimes they induce constipation, as 
when changing from autumn pastures to a diet without any 
succulence in it. In other instances they overtax the diges- 
tion so as permanently to weaken it, as when animals unused 
to grain are too quickly led up to a full feed of the same. If 
the change is gradually made, after the lapse of a sufficient 
time, the system can digest without hazard or harm, quanti- 
ties of the newly introduced food elements that would as- 
suredly have produced serious digestive derangement had 
they been given at the first. ' - 



460 lEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Moreover, such changes affect the quahty of the milk 
of dams to such an extent as in some instances to be seri- 
ously harmful to the young which they are nursing. This 
may happen when the change is made to a diet that is well 
adapted to the production of good milk. Should brood 
sows, for instance, be suddenly put on abundant clover 
pasture when young and fresh, the danger is present that 
scours will affect the young that they are nursing. It some- 
times happens also, that when ewes nursing young lambs 
are quickly changed from dry food to abundant pastures, 
the change in the quality of the milk and its superabvm- 
dance lead to derangement in digestion so serious that 
death may follow. 

When herbivorous animals are changed suddenly from 
a dry diet to one of succulent pastures, the change is prob- 
ably accompanied in all instances by a loss of weight. This 
results from the lax condition of the bowels. This loss 
may be so serious as to call for three or four weeks grazing 
before the weight is recovered that was thus lost. Even 
though the change is made prudently with animals on a 
full grain ration, the gains will probably be lowered more or 
less for a time. Cows also will be reduced in flesh somewhat, 
notwithstanding that the milk flow may be greater. 

The change, therefore, should be made from dry food 
to succulent pastures very gradually. It is considered good 
practice to turn cattle that are being given a full grain ra- 
tion out on pasture just after the noon meal has been 
consumed, and to leave them on the grass for not more 
than an hour the first day. The period of grazing is then 
lengthened each day, and not less than 15 days should be 
covered in making the change. The grain ration is in the 
meantime continued, and the animals are encouraged to 
eat fodder suitable in kind. If, however, the fresh young 
grass is mixed with dead grass uneaten from the previous 
year's growth, the time occupied in making the change may 
be shortened, as the tendency to scouring will not be so 
marked. 



GENERAL FEEDING 46 1 

A second method sometimes adopted is to turn the 
animals onto the pasture so early in the season that they 
cannot eat grass to excess, because it is not present in 
sufficient quantities. This method may be commendable in 
some instances with sheep, which are usually benefited by 
taking much exercise, but it is not to be commended in 
the case of cattle, as they injure the pasture by poaching. 
They hinder growth through too early cropping, and the 
over exercise taken by them is adverse to increase in flesh. 

The change from autumn pastures to dry food is less 
difficult to make. If the animals have been given a daily 
supplement of dry fodder on the pastures before yarding 
them, the check to increase should be but little felt. A 
constipated condition of the bowels, however, should be 
guarded against by feeding some food, as oil cake or field 
roots in sufficient quantity to prevent such a result. 

Adjusting foods to the needs of animals. — The prop- 
er adjusting of foods to the needs of the animals so that 
they will be fed with the greatest economy as to the utiliza- 
tion of food and the utmost benefit to the animals, requires 
much forethought and judgment on the part of the feeder. 
It calls for the adaptation of foods : ( i ) To animals of 
different ages; (2) to those of different classes and (3) 
to the purposes for which they are kept. 

With reference to young animals during the milk pe- 
riod, in nearly all instances it will be profitable to supple- 
ment the milk with grain or meal that will promote the 
proper growth of bone and muscle, and to feed in addi- 
tion, unless in the case of swine, fodder, the finest and 
most palatable that can be obtained. Subsequently to the 
milk period the grain ration should be increased and the 
quality of the other food maintained for several months. 
The period between the age of, say one year, and maturity 
in the case of foals and cattle, eight months and maturity in 
that of lambs, and three months and maturity in the 
case of swine, is the period when they can be fed most 
cheaply, because of the small amount of grain required 



462 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

relatively and of the extent to which the more coarse fod- 
ders can be fed. The only exception is in the case of ma- 
ture animals that are not producing. When kept to that 
age beyond which the teeth begin to fail, then foods richer 
and prepared so as to reduce the labor of mastication are 
essential. It should also be noted that, viewed from the 
standpoint of age only, the necessity for foods rich in pro- 
tein and mineral matters gradually decreases with advanc- 
ing age, hence, the nutritive ratio widens proportionatel}\ 

With reference to the different classes of animals, it 
may be said, that cattle and sheep can profitably consume 
larger quantities of bulky foods relatively than horses and 
swine, owing to the greater relative capacity they have for 
storing the same and to the better equipment they have 
for thoroughly masticating the food when preparing it for 
digestion. The average capacity of the stomach of the 
horse has been given as 19 quarts, of the ox as 266.9, the 
sheep 24.7 and the hog 8.5. To some extent, however, this 
is offset by the greater relative intestinal capacity of the 
horse and the hog. It follows, therefore, that horses re- 
quire as a rule, more concentrated food relatively than cat- 
tle and sheep, and that because swine are not so well equipped 
as horses for masticating coarse fodders, they require 
a still larger proportion of concentrated food. 

With reference to the various purposes for which ani- 
mals are kept it may be said : ( i ) That horses at work call 
for increased concentration in the food fed with increase 
in the amount and severity of the work done; (2) that 
with cattle, the need for protein is greatest during the 
milk taking period, that the diet of cows in milk must be 
richer in protein and possessed of more succulence than 
that for cattle that are being fattened, and that the food of 
the latter must be increasingly rich in the main in fat 
producing elements as the fattening process advances; (3) 
that the same reasoning applies equally to sheep and swine 
and (4) that while swine between the weaning and fatten- 
ing period can utilize pasture to much advantage the food 



GENERAL FEEDING 463 

should be concentrated and rich in protein during the 
former period, and in carbohydrates during the latter. It 
may also be added that mature animals not producing re- 
quire but little grain, hence, the aim should be to maintain 
them on relatively cheap foods. 

Foods home grown or purchased. — Whether the 
foods fed should be entirely grown upon the farm or pur- 
chased in part or in whole will depend upon several con- 
siderations. These include : ( i ) The relative area of the 
land holdings on which foods may be grown; (2) the rela- 
tive values of foods; (3) the natural adaptation of the 
country for certain lines of production, and (4) the neces- 
sity for applying fertilizers from some outside source. 

It is evident that where the holdings are small, the 
amount of live stock kept cannot be large, unless foods are 
purchased in addition to those grown. The purchase of foods 
to supplement those grown may in certain instances not 
only be necessary but also commendable. Nevertheless the 
fact remains that the profit from feeding home-grown foods 
should be greater than from feeding those purchased. It 
will probably be correct to say that the home value of foods 
is 20 per cent less than the value of the same on the mar- 
ket. In other words, other things being equal, a food can 
usually be grown for about 20 per cent less than it can be 
purchased, hence, the advantage to the grower and feeder 
of live stock of being able to grow all or nearly all the 
food which he needs. This should be his aim to the great- 
est extent possible, but of course all the food needed can- 
not be grown on small farms when they are heavily 
stocked. 

The relative value of foods exercises an important 
qualifying influence on the amount and kinds that it will 
pay to purchase, and also on the conditions under which 
they may be fed. In some instances, as when the prices 
of food products are low, when live stock of suitable age 
and at moderate prices for feeding can be obtained and 
when the demand for the properly finished product rules 



464 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

reasonably high, it may be possible to buy both food and 
live stock and feed them at a profit. 

Feeding sheep and cattle at stockyards and other 
centers has been made possible under the conditions named. 
More commonly such feeding has centered at various points 
in the Mississippi basin and in proximity to the great grain 
growing centers of the central west and northwest. Sheep 
especially from the western ranges have been thus fat- 
tened oftentimes in very large numbers and on screenings 
taken out of the grain and supplemented. Fattening animals 
thus, of course, effects a saving in labor. But, viewed from 
the standpoint of the influence which it exerts upon farm- 
ing in states where it is practiced, it is open to the fol- 
lowing objections : ( i ) It centers feeding at a limited num- 
ber of points which should be done on the farm, because 
of the profitable employment that it would furnish to the 
farmers on many farms during the leisure season; (2) it 
consumes fodders and frequently grains drawn from the 
farm which should be fed on the same for its enrichment ; 
(3) the fertilizer made at the various feeding centers is 
usually in a large degree wasted. 

In certain sections, it is possible to grow one product 
in great abundance for a certain kind of feeding, while its 
best complemental food does not grow well there. Under 
these conditions, it may be profitable to buy that food which 
helps to balance the ration. In alfalfa areas in the western 
valleys, it may pay well, under certain conditions, to buy 
corn and other grain to feed with the alfalfa. In corn-grow- 
ing areas where protein is much wanting, it may pay well 
to purchase some'protein food as bran or cottonseed meal 
to feed along with the corn. In other areas which may be 
made to grow corn ensilage in food form but which produce 
grain shyly, it may be well to purchase the latter to add 
to the silage rather than to try to grow them. 

When it is necessary to supplement the fertilizer made 
on the farm by purchasing fertility, this may sometimes 
be obtained more cheaply through foods purchased and fed 



GENERAL FEEDING 465 

than through purchasing the fertiHzer directly. Where 
the soil is low in fertility, this may frequently answer the 
purpose much better than the application of commercial 
fertilizers, since the manure resulting will act as a mulch 
and also as a fertilizer when spread on the surface, and 
when buried it will furnish the soil with .humus and also 
with fertility. Commercial fertilizer only enriches the soil. 
It does not act as a mulch nor does it supply humus. One 
of the best methods of enriching soil thus is by feeding 
to slieep on pasture some supplemental grain product, rich 
in fertilizing elements (see p. 398). The pasture may be 
composed of grass, clover or other plants sown for the 
purpose. 

Relative food values. — It has been stated elsewhere 
that the aim should be to grow the foods fed upon the 
farm to the greatest extent possible upon the same. (See 
p. 463.) But it frequently happens that foods need to be 
purchased to make it possible to feed them in balance. It is 
also necesary in some instances to purchase them to make 
production profitable in the highest degree, because of the 
limitations in the variety of the foods grown in the locality. 
In such instances a due regard should be had. first, to the 
relative values of foods, and second, to their relative suit- 
ability for the end sought. In yet other instances, because 
of a difference in the relative values of foods, it may be 
profitable to sell grains grown upon the farm and purchase 
other products to feed in lieu of those sold. 

A due regard must be had to the relative values of 
foods. These vary with the seasons. In one instance, bar- 
ley may be low in price and corn relatively high. In an- 
other, the opposite may be true. This may be brought 
about by some peculiarity in the weather during the period 
of growth. One season is may be more profitable to pur- 
chase corn, another season, barley, and yet again rye. In 
some instances, oil cake may be freely purchased and fed 
with profit, and yet again the cost of this food may put it 
out of the reach of the feeder. The same is true of other 



466 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

by-products. In some instances bran may be purchased and 
fed with great advantage. In other instances it would be 
fed at a loss. But because of the favorable influence of 
bran and oil cake and some other products on digestion apart 
from their feeding value, it may be profitable to purchase 
and feed them in small quantity when the price gets be- 
yond the value of profitable feeding based on the nutrients 
which these foods contain. 

The relative suitability of foods purchased to the use 
that is to be made of them should be duly considered when 
purchases are made. The cheapest concentrate viewed 
from the standpoint of nutrients may not be the cheapest, 
because it does not contain the requisite nutrients to furnish 
a balanced ration along with the other foods already on 
hand with which it must be fed. In yet other instances, 
the food thus purchased may not be the cheapest, though it 
is the best balancer of the ration, because of its relative ex- 
pense. Another food which does not furnish so perfect a 
balance may be cheaper because of its low price or because 
it exercises a favorable influence on digestion. 

Grains may sometimes be sold with profit in order to 
purchase other foods to feed in their stead. The grower 
for instance may have an abundant supply of oats and be 
short of corn for feeding. Oats may be relatively high and 
corn relatively cheap. In such instances profit may result 
from selling oats and buying corn, rather than from feed- 
ing oats without corn. Another who is a swine grower 
may have an abundant supply of both corn and oats. Since 
neither of these fed alone is suitable for young pigs as 
the sole ration, and since the same is true of them when 
fed in conjunction, it will usually be profitable to sell a 
certain amount of one or the other of these grains and to 
purchase wheat middlings to be fed in its stead. That, of 
course, should be sold which will bring the best price. But 
when these exchanges, so to speak, are made, a due regard 
must be had to the cost of transportation of the food sold 
and also of that purchased. 



GENERAL FEEDING 467 

Sustaining power of pastures. — The sustaining power 
of pastures is a question of much moment to the stock- 
man. With reference thereto it may be said: (i) That 
it will be found to vary greatly with varying conditions ; 
(2) that under average conditions, it may usually be greatly 
increased and (3) that the effort to increase the carrying 
power of pastures in this country has seldom been given 
that attention which its importance demands. 

The sustaining power of grazing lands will vary with 
climatic and soil conditions, with the grasses that grow 
on them, with the method of grazing and with the fertiliza- 
tion bestowed. The sustaining power of the best grazing 
lands of the United States and Canada has apparently not 
been tested in a systematic way. It has been estimated that 
from 10 to 30 acres of land comprised in the western ranges 
are required to graze a mature cattle beast through all 
the season, practically through all the year. In striking 
contrast is the statement of Sir J. B. Lawes, to the effect 
that in a certain pasture in Leicestershire, England, which 
comprised 14 acres, 17 oxen were grazed throughout the 
entire season and that from 500 to 600 pounds of increase 
was secured from each acre. The averge fertility of the 
range lands referred to is probably greater than that of the 
Leicestershire grazing lands, the difference in the outcome 
being caused mainly by lack of rainfall. In support of this 
statement it may be mentioned, that Prof R. S. Shaw se- 
cured 904.8 pounds of increase per acre in one season at the 
Montana experiment station, from grazing young cattle on 
alsike clover pasture subject to irrigation. 

A mixture of grasses will usually produce the largest 
amount of pasture, since these grow more or less at dif- 
ferent seasons and they usually occupy the ground more 
fully than one variety. Such pastures, however, should be 
permanent in character, and they should only be made on 
soils good and naturally moist, and in localities favored 
with occasional rains during the period of growth, because 
of the expense and time required to secure them. 



468 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

The method of grazing exercises a most important in- 
fluence on the production of pastures. This is particularly 
true of pastures essentially composed of blue grass. In 
practice they are usually eaten too bare. When not cropped 
too closely, the covering of grass tends to shield the ground 
from the evaporating rays of the sun in summer, and from 
the severe freezing of the roots in winter. By prudent 
grazing, the sustaining power of pastures may certainly be 
considerably increased, but the author has not been able 
to find figures bearing on such increase. 

Nor can data be found based on American experience 
to show the increase that may be obtained in pastures from 
suitable fertilization. Reasoning from analogy, however, 
it would seem correct to assume that the fertilization of 
pastures would increase production relatively as much as it 
increases the production of meadows in the same locality 
similarly treated. In many instances, the production of 
New England meadows has been increased two-and three- 
fold, by dressing them annually with compost, farmyard 
manure or commercial fertilizers, or with two of these or 
all three combined. 

The prevailing pasture on arable farms in the northern 
and central states is blue grass, in the southern states, 
Bermuda grass, and in the Canadian Northwest, Russian 
brome. The claim has been made for all these, that in some 
instances one acre has been found capable of sustaining a 
cattle beast between the ages of one and three years dur- 
ing the period of grazing, that is for, say six months. This 
would mean that one acre of such grass would furnish 
from 300 to 400 pounds of increase. Usually, however, 
it would seem correct to say, that from two to three acres 
are required to carry one such animal through the season. 
One average acre of well-grown rape will produce from 
200 to 250 pounds of mutton. One acre of irrigated alfalfa 
with a suitable grain supplement will make from say 600 to 
900 pounds of pork in a single season, to be credited to 
the alfalfa. 



GENERAL FEEDING 469 

It would probably be safe to affirm that under average 
conditions on arable farms, the sustaining power of pastures 
could be doubled, and that this would be possible of ac- 
complishment in a way that would add much to the revenue 
accruing. Securing meat through pasture to a very con- 
siderable extent eliminates costly labor. 

The little attention that has been given to increasing 
the sustaining power of pastures has doubtless arisen in a 
measure from the extensive character of the farming. Along 
with the advent of intensive farming, it is reasonable to 
suppose that the improvement of pastures will be given that 
mcreased attention of which its importance is deserving. 

Condimental foods. — Condimental foods are certain 
preparations added to the usual food ration for longer or 
shorter periods. They are mixed with some kind of 
meal as a basis and certain ingredients added. Some of the 
latter are of the nature of spices, some possess medicinal 
properties and yet others possess both. Of the first class 
is ginger; of the second, gentian, and of the third, anise. 
They are thus blended and fed usually with concentrated 
food to increase the relish for the food and to tone up the 
system. As put upon the market they are proprietary, and 
are generally sold as "Foods" or "Stock Food," with some 
distinguishing name prefixed to indicate the ownership. In 
many instances, the claims made for them are extravagant, 
and they are frequently sold at a price unreasonably and un- 
necessarily high. 

The foods moie commonly used as the basis of the 
mixture are corn meal, wheat middlings, oil meal and 
locust bean, but other kinds of meal are also used^ alone or 
mixed. The ingredients added more commonly include 
several of the following; viz., gentian, fenugreek, ginger 
caraway, anise, cumin, saltpeter, common salt, charcoal, 
and sulphur. Sometimes they include others of a similar 
class. It is absolutely necessary to use some common food 
as a base, otherwise the mixture would have so little bulk 
that it would not be practical to spread it over prepared 



470 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

food or to mix it with the same in order to improve its 
palatabiHty. As the amount fed is usually not more than 
a tablespoonful at one time, and in some instances it is 
less, the necessity for such blending will be apparent. 

At the present time, it is popular to write and speak 
against the use of such foods. The more vehement char- 
acterize them as absolute frauds. The more temperate 
argue that when animals are in health and provided with 
good wholesome food, condiments are not needed, and 
that since wholesome food is always accessible, they are 
never needed. As a result of various experiments con- 
ducted to test their worth, the conclusion has been reached 
in some instances, that they are practically valueless, and 
in nearly all instances that to feed them is unprofitable. 
In the judgment of the author, all three classes have erred 
in the conclusions reached. To grant the correctness of 
the first view would be to assume that no honest person 
could engage in compounding them, a conclusion that is 
not tenable as some of these foods have merit for certain 
lines of feeding as is shown below. To grant the correct- 
ness of the second view, would imply by parity of reasoning 
that foods are always good, that animals are always healthy, 
and that when members of the human family are ailing, 
they should use no stimulant or tonic to promote recovery,. 
To grant the correctness of the third view would be sub- 
stantially to sustain the correctness of the first and second 
views. 

The author believes that these so-called foods as a 
rule contain ingredients that are seldom, if ever harmful, 
when judiciously Jed to animals, and that on'the other hand, 
they may be so fed that they will be helpful and in some 
instances profitable, dependent on the conditions that at- 
tend the feeding. They are appetizing, stimulating, and act 
as tonics, consequently, they should not be fed when animals 
are in good health. But when domestic animals are ailing, 
or unthrifty, a suitable condiment given to them for a time 
will frequently aid in restoring normal conditions. Some 



GENERAL FEEDING 4/1 

of these foods fed for a short time may prove very helpful 
in fitting yard horses for spring- work, in stimulating the 
milk flow in a cow whose stomach is out of tone, and in 
toning up the digestion of cattle and other animals near 
the finishing period, when it has become deranged through 
over-heavy feeding. No sooner, however, is the object ac- 
complished, than all such feeding should cease. Tonics 
long continued cease to be operative both in men and lower 
animals. 

The findings of the experiment stations would seem 
to be based on the untenable view that they are foods, 
and they have so been fed to animals in good health. The 
idea of feeding them as foods is far from correct, as the 
amount of nutriment which one feed contains is not worth 
mentioning. But those who compound them have no right 
to complain, as they usually speak of them as foods. 

Nearly all feeders of long experience use more or less 
of such ingredients, but not necessarily in the proprietary 
form. More frequently probably they buy two or three 
of the more important ingredients and compound them at 
home. Such preparations should cost less than proprietary 
foods, but the makers of the latter have a very great ad- 
vantage in the opportunity they have to purchase wholesale. 
In any event it would seem that such foods should yield a 
reasonable profit to the owner when sold in large lots at 
not more than 5 cents per pound. It is not necessary to 
use more than a few pounds of the costlier ingredients to 
make 100 pounds of the mixture. 

The place for self-feeders. — Self-feeders have been 
used in feeding cattle, sheep and swine, but more com- 
monly they are used in feeding sheep. They are simply 
covered boxes of any desired length and width, but wider 
at the eaves than at the base. They are supported by legs 
or frames and may be stationary or movable. They have 
troughs along one or both sides as desired, the bottom of 
the trough being on a level with the bottom of the box, and 



47^ FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

of suitable height to allow the animals to eat without dis- 
comfort. The food comes into the troughs as fast as 
eaten, through an opening along the side, and just above 
the bottom of the box. Cattle are frequently fed in flat 
boxes with low sides, the meal or corn being replenished 
to the extent of always keeping food before them. 

It has been found practicable to fatten live stock when 
fed thus, with results that have been, at least, fairly but 
not eminently satisfactory. It has been practiced more 
commonly at feeding centers, where animals are fattened in 
a wholesale way, and to a far greater extent with sheep and 
lambs than with any other class of live stock. The chief 
object sought is to save labor. The roughage fed in such 
instances is also replenished in suitable racks, so that it 
also is constantly before the animals. 

To this method of feeding there are the following ob- 
jections: (i) Animals may not be fed thus with safety 
until that time is reached when they are on full feed, that 
is on a full allowance of grain. To feed them in this way 
at the beginning would disturb digestion to their serious 
detriment (see p. Z77^- This period of preliminary feed- 
ing usually covers several weeks, in some instances one- 
third of the entire finishing period. (2) It is less economical 
of food. Animals fed thus will live chiefly on concentrates, 
and just to the extent that they do, they consume a less 
amount of roughage, which in nearly all instances, furnishes 
nutrients more cheaply than is furnished by concentrates. 
In areas where concentrates are relatively high and rough- 
age cheap, as is usually the case where alfalfa grows at 
its best, such feed would add materially to the cost of 
increase. (3) The increase made is not usually quite so 
satisfactory as from the other system of feeding. Such 
has been the trend of the results of trials at the ex- 
periment stations. While taking the food, the animals 
breathe on more or less of the unconsumed portion, which 
makes it less appetizing for them and leads to decreased 
consumption. (4) Digestive troubles are less frequent when 



GENERAL FEEDING 473 

the food IS proportioned out from meal to meal, and in 
quantity just sufficient to keep the appetite in tone. In 
this way surfeiting is prevented. The author found when 
feeding sheep at the Minnesota station, by the two systems, 
digestive troubles were much less frequent with the ani- 
mals on a limited grain ration. 

While it is quite practicable to fatten animals on unlim- 
ited feed, from what has been said above, it would seem 
undesirable to follow this method on the arable farm or 
western ranches, where alfalfa grows abundantly. Where 
animals and more especially sheep are congregated at feed- 
ing centers, and where screenings of grain are used as the 
•:hief concentrate in fattening, it may be the cheaper method. 
Finishing on the farm, however, is to be encouraged 
rather than at feeding centers, because of the favorable in- 
fluence which it exerts on fertility, and also for other 
reasons, as furnishing employment in winter that should 
prove profitable, and utilizing coarse foods that may other- 
wise be to some extent wasted. 

Relative profits from domestic animals. — The rela- 
tive profit from producing milk, beef, mutton and pork 
has been discussed, and frequently to but little purpose. 
W^ith reference to economy in production the following 
conclusions will be found correct : ( i ) Judged from the 
standpoint of the return in nutrients for food consumed, the 
cow is the most economical producer of food for man, but 
(2) the relative profit in producing milk or meat is in a 
marked degree the outcome of conditions, hence (3) un- 
der some conditions, the time is never likely to come when 
milk, beef, mutton, or pork cannot be produced at the 
greatest profit. 

That the cow is a more economical producer of food 
'or man, than the steer, the sheep or the pig, cannot be 
questioned, if considered only from the standpoint of the 
nutrients consumed in producing the same. Lawes and 
Gilbert have shown that in the milk of a cow giving 10 
quarts of milk daily, there are 6.6 pounds of nitrogenous 



474 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

substance, 6.t,;^ pounds of fat and 1.35 pounds of mineral 
matter produced in one week, wliereas during- a similar 
period a steer gaining 21-7 pounds daily will produce 
1. 1 3 pounds nitrogenous substance, 9.53 pounds of fat 
and 0.22 pound of mineral matter. The cow also pro- 
duces 8.32 pounds of milk sugar for which there 
is no equivalent in the ox. The ox will call for as 
much food as the cow, if not indeed more, while thus 
producing. The showing made is strongly in favor of the 
greater economy in production from the cow. 

It should be noticed, however, that the comparison re- 
lates to production from mature animals, which is, so far, 
against meat production. Meat is usually produced much 
more economically by the cattle beast not yet mature. It 
makes no allowance for maintenance while the cow is dry, 
which usually covers from one-sixth to one-fifth of the 
year. Nor does it consider the items of labor, which is 
greater in the case of milk production. The necessity also 
for meat in the human dietary, will make its production 
imperative in progressive communities. 

That conditions largely govern profits in milk and meat 
production cannot be gainsaid. Under range conditions, 
meat is produced at a very low cost, whereas, in the very 
nature of things, milk cannot be produced at all under the 
same conditions. On the other hand, nutrients can cer- 
tainly be produced more cheaply in the form of milk under 
intensive conditions, but even under these, much coarse 
food can be made into meat, not well suited to making 
milk. 

That the time will never come when producing beef, 
mutton or pork under all conditions will be less profitable 
than producing the other classes of meat, or less economi- 
cal, will be evident to the reflecting mind. A small flock of 
sheep, for instance, can be kept during the grazing season 
on the average farm on the food grown in by-places. This 
food in the absence of sheep would probably be wasted. 
The nutrients in mutton thus irrown are furnished more 



GENERAL FEEDING 475 

cheaply than they could be furnished in the milk of dairy 
cows kept on the same farm. Again, suppose swine are 
grown largely on alfalfa pasture and fattened on peas which 
they harvest in the field, while being fattened, food nutri- 
ents will doubtless be furnished more cheaply in the pork 
thus made, than they could be furnished by harvesting the 
food and feeding it to other animals. It is not wise to con- 
clude, therefore, that because as stated by Lawes and Gil- 
bert, a mature cattle beast calls for 12 to 13 pounds of 
dry matter to make a pound of increase, and mature sheep 
call for but 8 to 9 pounds to make the same, growing mut- 
ton is under all conditions more profitable than growing 
beef. Under some conditions beef can be profitably grown 
where mutton cannot and vice versa. Again, there are 
conditions where either can be more profitably produced 
than milk or milk products. The important matter is to 
produce each of these products with reference to highest 
adaptation for producing them 



CHAPTER XX. 



CONSIDERATIONS THAT RELATE TO THE 
CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 

Prominent among the considerations that relate 
care of domestic animals are the following. 

1. The feeder. • 

2. Regularity in caring for stock. 

3. Water for domestic animals. 

4. Amount of water required. 

5. Furnishing water to animals. 

6. Shelter from weaning onward. 

7. Shelter for young animals. 

8. Protection for stock in summer. 

9. Temperature in stables. 

10. The sources of litter. 

11. The uses of litter. 

12. Preparing and using litter. 

13. Amount of exercise. 

14. The season of breeding. 

15. The dam at parturition. 

These are discussed in the order given. 

The feeder. — The importance of adaptation in live 
stock to the end for which they are kept, and to the environ- 
ment surrounding them has already been discussed. (See 
p. 31.) It is further discussed on page 74. The ad- 
vantage from feeding foods in approximate balance has 
also been pointed out. (See Chapter X.) But no matter what 
the adaptation may Jae, or the suitability of the foods fed, 
adequate results will not follow unless the feeder, who has 
the animals in charge is in every respect at least reasonably 
qualified for his work. 

The qualifications of a feeder are many. They in- 
clude : ( I ) Some knowledge of animal physiology and 

476 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 477 

ciieniistry; (2) an industry and patience that are untiring; 
(3) a fidelity that is unswerving; and (4) an innate love 
for the work. 

The feeder who has some knowledge of animal physi- 
ology is better qualified to adjust the foods fed to the 
needs of the animals than the feeder without such know- 
ledge. He will understand better the necessity for main- 
taining relative adjustment between the proportion of con- 
centrates and bulky fodders fed. He will also have a more 
correct idea of the treatment suitable for ailments and 
diseases not sufficiently important to call for the skill of 
the veterinarian. Some knowledge of chemistry will 
prove valuable in the compounding of the food factors 
of the ration and also preparing them for feeding. This 
does not mean, however, that some men are unable to 
make their mark as feeders without such knowledge. This 
has been done in instances not a few. But it does mean 
that, other things being equal, the feeder possessed of the 
knowledge referred to should succeed better in his work 
than the one not possessed of it. 

The successful feeder must be a man of industrious 
habits. His work, like that of woman, is in a sense never 
done. Her ministrations to the needs of humanity are 
never ending and his likewise to the needs of the live stock 
which he feeds are continuous. Giving food and water to 
the animals which he has in charge, though an important 
part of his work, is by no means all of it. The necessity 
for attentions in various ways is ever present during his 
waking hours, and at certain seasons, as when animals bring 
forth their young, giving these attentions frequently de- 
prives him of his accustomed slumbers. 

In no line of work 'is fidelity of greater importance. 
This is owing to the ever present necessity of furnishing 
the animals in charge with food and protection. In some 
lines of work the. neglect of one day may in a considerable 
degree be made up the next, but in caring for animals it 



478 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

is different; with them injury resulting from neglect is al- 
ways attended with loss, and in many instances, it cannot 
be atoned for even by extra care subsequently. So im- 
portant is fidelity on the part of the feeder that without it 
he cannot make a success of his work. 

An innate love for the work is an important bestow- 
ment on any feeder, on the principle that a liking for the 
work in hand is a great aid to anyone prosecuting a definite 
line of work. Its importance is enhanced in the case of 
feeders by the influence which it exerts on the degree of the 
attention bestowed, and the character of the same, and on 
the self-control of the individual. The feeder who has no 
love for his work does it in a perfunctory way. Food 
is fed by rule regardless of the individual needs of 
the animal. He is much prone also to be impatient with 
waywardness in animals, in some instances to the extent 
of being positively cruel. The feeder who loves his work 
has a most careful regard to the individual needs of the 
animals. If any is to wait for a meal beyond the usual 
time, it will be himself rather than the animals under his 
care. He will be gentle, though firm in dealing with them. 
The animals in charge will go to meet him on his approach 
rather than flee from him as in the case of the other type 
of feeder. It has been said that feeders are born, not 
made, and there is a large measure of truth in the adage, 
but a love for feeding may also be cultivated to a marked 
degree. 

Good feeders are always in demand. This is one of 
the lines of work which is never over-filled. It is shunned 
by many when deciding upon their life work because it is 
in a sense confinmg work. It calls for continued atten- 
tion during much of each of the 365 days in the year, 
and it is exacting in the long hours called for and at certain 
seasons additional hours are taken from the usual time for 
sleeping. To such an extent is this line of work shunned 
by the average American youth, that his adventurous spirit 
prevents him from choosing it. As a result, it would seem 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 479 

safe to say, that a majority of those in this country ex- 
clusively engaged in feeding animals have come from 
certain countries in western Europe, especially Great 
Britain, Denmark, Holland and Germany. The demand 
for this class of work is likely to continue, indefinitely, and 
the remuneration will be more, relatively, than is paid for 
other lines of physical labor. The calling is also less 
subject to change than in any other line of work, since a 
change of feeders frequently brings with it more hazard 
than change in many other lines in which animal life is 
not a factor. The skilled feeder is practically assured of 
work, liberal maintenance, and in some instances compe- 
tence through all the changes of the times. 

Regularity in caring for stock. — The importance of 
regularity in everything that pertains to the keeping of 
live stock cannot be easily over-estimated. While this ap- 
plies to every phase of management, it does not so apply 
equally. While giving food and salt irregularly are both 
to be deprecated, animals will take greater harm from ir- 
regularity in supplying the former. This source of hind- 
rance to well doing is especially significant when it applies, 
(i) to the giving of food; (2) to the giving of drink; (3) 
to the milking of cows and (4) to the working of horses. 

Opinions do not always agree as to the number of 
times that food should be given daily. This probably should 
be gauged by the age of the animal, by the nature of the 
digestive organs, and by the amount of work performed. 
There can be no question but that young animals should be 
fed more frequently when young than at a later period, ow- 
ing in part, at least, to the greater activity of the digestive 
organs. Animals with relatively large stomach capacity do 
not of necessity call for food supplies so frequently as those 
in which such capacity is not so large. Two feeds a day have 
been found sufficient for cows, even when in milk, and also 
for animals well grown that are being fattened, though 
a considerable number adhere to the practice of giving a 
light feed of fodder in the middle of the day in addition to 



480 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

the morning and evening feeds, which should be given 12 
hours apart, as nearly as may be found practicable. The 
stomach of the horse and pig being less capacious than 
that of cattle and sheep, would seem to demand three feeds 
per day, rather than two, and given as nearly as practicable 
six hours apart. 

But there can be no disagreement with reference to 
the wisdom of giving food regularly. The digestive system 
of animals is such that it adapts itself at least measurably to 
the system of feeding adopted. To change that system for 
even a single meal, produces more or less of digestive 
disturbance in the animal, as in the individual. If food 
is not forthcoming at the accustomed time, animals will 
proclaim their sense of deprivation, each in its own pe- 
culiar way. The neighing of the horse for food, the low- 
ing of the ox, the bleating of the sheep and the squealing 
of swine, are simply echoes of the outcome of the desire 
for another meal. Undue fasting is followed by taking 
an excessive supply, which in turn calls for excessive drink- 
ing, hence, digestive disturbance follows. The effects from 
irregular feeding and changed conditions are well brought 
out in the fact that animals usually lose in weight when 
making the circuit of the autumn fairs. 

When water is withheld beyond the usual time, a sense 
of deprivation is felt, then it is taken to excess. Disturb- 
ance follows in secreting the digestive fluids, and just in 
proportion to the irregularity will be the loss that follows. 
Warm temperatures and hard work may and do call for 
taking water more frequently than at other times, but 
under normal conditions, the aim should be to supply it at 
stated times. 

Nowhere in the management of domestic animals is the 
importance of regularity more clearly shown than in the 
milking of cows. A single instance of milking deferred for 
any considerable length of time will be followed by decrease 
in the next milking and in some instances in several milkings. 
It has been noticed that to defer milking for an hour or more, 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 481 

as for instance on Sabbath morning, will tend to diminish 
the yield perceptibly for more than one milking immediately 
following. For the discussion of other iniiuences that af- 
fect milk yields, see page 419. 

The exertion of work calls for more food and for tak- 
ing it more frequently than when animals are at rest. Be- 
cause of this, while horses that are idle and that are smiply 
being carried through the winter, may fare well enough 
on two feeds a day, it is imperative that those at work shall 
have three feeds, and it is important that food shall be 
given on time. Work carried beyond the usual time for 
taking food means a more rapid expenditure of energy than 
at other times, and this means so far a lowering of digestive 
capacity when food is given. Hence it is, that irregularity 
and want of uniformity in feeding are always followed by 
results not entirely satisfactory. 

Water for domestic animals. — Water is furnished to 
domestic animals for the three-fold purpose of aiding the 
digestive processes, cooling the body and allaying thirst. 
Of these uses, the first is probably the most important. Be- 
fore food can be digested that portion of the nutrients ap- 
propriated by the body must first be reduced to a soluble 
condition before they can be so utilized and to effect this 
end, water is usually necessary in addition to that contained 
in the food. Where the supply of water is insufficient for 
the needs of the body, the tissues are not kept sufficiently 
moist, nor is there enough to maintain proper action in the 
excretory glands of the skin, consequently the temperature 
rises and thirst is induced in proportion as the water supply 
is insufficient. In hot weather, water applied externally 
to the bodies of swine tends to cool the same in a marked 
degree and is, therefore, conductive to thrift. 

Thirst is always present when the supply of water is 
insufficient. It is a source of irritation and unrest. It also 
hinders more or less the digestive processes and so far 
hinders performance. When animals become thirsty be- 
yond certain limits, they drink abnormal amounts of water 



482 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

and this also is adverse to performance. The necessity, 
therefore, for furnishing them with an ample supply of 
water is ever present, notwithstanding that water is in 
no sense a food. 

The primary source of water is of course the clouds. 
The natural channels by which it is conveyed to animals 
are two-fold; viz., directly, as in the act of drinking, and 
indirectly in the plants consumed as food. The sources 
of supply from the clouds may be classed as natural and 
artificial. The natural sources include springs, running 
streams and basins made by nature. The artificial sources 
include ordinary and artesian wells, cisterns and basins 
made in the earth. The supply furnished in plants is con- 
siderable. The amount thus furnished is influenced by the 
class to which the plant belongs and the condition in which 
it is fed. Succulent grass, green corn and field roots con- 
tain about 90 per cent of water, speaking roughly, and the 
concentrated grains about 10 per cent. The amount of 
water called for from other sources will of course be re- 
duced in proportion as water is present in the food. Be- 
cause of the amount of water in the food, some classes of 
animals may not need water from other sources. This is 
true in some instances of cattle and sheep that are fed a 
large amount of roots, and of sheep grazing on succulent 
rape pasture. 

Water is helpful to animals in proportion as the supply 
is abundant, sweet, pure and of the right temperature. The 
necessity for a plentiful supply is self evident. Water is 
sweet when it does not contain any chemical substances 
distasteful to live-'stock. In some areas of the range, water 
is so strongly impregnated with alkali and other sub- 
stances, that animals will not drink it. Water is pure when 
it does not contain any foreign substances that render it 
in any degree unwholesome. 

The sources of the purest water are springs, runnmg 
streams and, in some instances, surface and artesian wells. 
When first collected in cisterns and in natural or artificial 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 483 

basins, it is pure, but when it remains long in these, in a 
stagnant condition and without renewal in the supply, its 
purity lowers, unless in cold latitudes. jMotion is necessary 
in water under normal conditions in order to maintain its 
purity. Of the sources of supply named, water obtained 
from artificial basins or ponds, as they are sometimes called, 
in which large numbers of animals are allowed to drink 
from time to time, is the most impure. Such water will 
not furnish good flavored milk when drunk by cows, and 
it is prejudicial to the health of sheep. The same is true 
of water in basins into which the soakage of or seepage 
from barnyards finds its way. Nor is the stagnant water 
which collects in marshes wholesome in hot weather, and es- 
pecially late in the season. Such water is especially injurious 
to sheep, since it seems favorable to the growth of parasites 
which prey upon them. Swine seem to be less injured 
by impure water than other animals, but unquestionably 
pure water is best for them also. They are oftentimes 
greatly wronged by the impurities in the water given to 
them. 

Amount of water required. — The amount of water re- 
quired by animals is influenced : ( i ) By the character of the 
food; (2) by the nature of the weather; (3) by the copious- 
ness of the dews and (4) by the nature and extent of the 
performance. Sometimes these influences act singly, but 
more commonly they act more or less in conjunction. 

Food influences the consumption of water more 
through the presence or lack of succulence than in any 
other way. But the proportion of protein in the food, it is 
thought, exercises some influence, and the same is unques- 
tionably true of salt. Salt increases the circulation of the 
juices of the body and thus favors increase in protein con- 
sumption. Many experiments have shown that the addition 
of field roots, corn ensilage or soiling food reduces the 
consumption of water in at least approximate propor- 
tion to the extent to which they are fed and to the 
amount of water they contain. Such food may be given 



484 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

under some conditions to the extent of satisfying the needs 
of the animals as to water. Experiments conducted at the 
Kansas and also at the Wisconsin station showed that in- 
crease in the protein in the food increased the consump- 
tion of water. Salt consumed in excess by animals salt 
hungry, will invariably lead to the consumption of a large 
amount of water. 

But there is something in the nature of certain foods 
that influences the consumption of water apart from the 
amount of water they contain. Corn and barley, for in- 
stance, contain virtually the same amounts of water and 
in experiments conducted at the Wisconsin station, it was 
found that the swine fattened on barley meal required about 
3 pounds of water for every 2 pounds required by those fed 
on corn meal. The water used in soaking the meal is in- 
cluded in both instances. Bran and oil cake when freely 
fed lead to increased water consumption. 

The weather exercises a potent influence on the con- 
sumption of water. The quantity of water consumed in- 
creases as temperatures rise, other things being equal. This 
is owing in part at least to the greater activity of the ex- 
cretory organs especially the glands of the skin as previ- 
ously intimated. The necessity for water is so great in hot 
weather that it is probable no diet, however succulent, will 
completely obviate the necessity for taking it. 

The copious character of the dews or the opposite ex- 
ercise an important influence on water requirement, but 
no amount of dew will preclude the necessity of any class 
of domestic animals for taking water when the grazing has 
but little succulence^.,The moistness or dryness of the atmos- 
phere exercises an influence on the consumption of water 
both directly and indirectly. The indirect influence comes 
through increase or decrease in the succulence of the plants. 
The same plant grown in a dry atmosphere has less of 
moisture in it than if grown in a moist atmosphere. 

It would seem correct to say that the consump- 
tion of water increases relatively with increase in per- 
formance. A horse at labor takes much more water 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 485 

than one at rest or that is idle, and a horse severely 
exercised will take more than one moderately exer- 
cised. A cow giving milk will drink more water than 
one dry. A steer that is being fattened will take more 
water than a store steer and the same is true of sheep and 
swine when going through the fattening process, as coni- 
pared with animals of the same class that are simply being 
grown. More water is called for as exercise increases in the 
horse to replace the amount lost through a corresponding 
increase in the activity of the glands of the skin and of the 
respiratory organs. With cows giving milk and animals 
that are being fattened, the increase is due to increase in 
food consumption which calls for corresponding increase in 
water consumption to carry on properly the digestive proc- 
esses. 

From what has been said, it will be apparent, that it is 
not possible to state the exact amount of water required by 
animals. It has been claimed that cattle require about 4 
pounds of water for each pound of dry matter in the food 
and that sheep call for half that amount. A number of 
experiments have been conducted to throw light upon this 
question and findings may be given, but why give them? 
As a rule the water supply is unlimited. It is also certain 
that under normal conditions, animals will not drink it 
to excess. It is equally true that they should have access to 
it with reasonable frequency and to the extent of their 
needs. The important considerations, therefore, are not 
such as relate to the amount that will be consumed, but 
rather such as have a bearing on the abundance of the 
supply, its easy accessibility and its temperature. 

The temperature of water for stock is of considerable 
importance both winter and summer. In winter it is too 
cold for best use when ice forms on it. Especially is this 
true of water for cows giving milk. . On the other hand, 
experiments have shown that but little advantage comes 
from heating water for dairy cows that is entirely free 
from ice, when taken in a comfortable place. Water should 



486 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

be heated, however, for animals when given immediately 
subsequently to the time of parturition, lest a chill should 
follow taking it when the system is thus fevered. In winter 
water heated more or less will be found more suitable for 
swine than ice cold water. In summer cold water is more 
agreeable to animals than warm water, but horses in a much 
heated condition should not be allowed to drink it in large 
quantities at the close of a labor period, lest it should re- 
sult in producing that stiffening of the limbs often spoken 
of as "founder." 

Furnishing water to animals. — In the pastures, water 
is best supplied from springs and running streams, also 
by flowing wells, where one or the other of these can be 
obtained. Next to these in suitability and convenience 
are wells of limited depth, from which the water is pumped 
up into troughs by wind power which works automatically. 
When the supply must be secured from artificial basins, the 
aim should be to construct these on elevations so high as to 
admit of conveying the water by gravity to the place or 
places where it is wanted. 

In the winter when the stock is confined to stables or 
sheds, the aim should be to have the drinking tanks or 
troughs under cover as matter of protection for the ani- 
mals while drinking in stormy weather, and also to insure 
more warmth in the water. When the tanks are in the 
yards, it will be found profitable to furnish them with 
heaters to prevent the temperature of the water from fall- 
ing too low. For the proper temperature, see page 485. When 
the water is pumped by hand, if the pumping is done im- 
mediately before the animals which drink are given access 
to it, the temperature will be about right. The same is 
true of water supplied automatically in basins in the stalls. 
For work horses and cattle that are being fattened, this 
method of supplying water is not really objectionable, if the 
basins are kept reasonably clean, but it has been found 
difficult to keep them clean enough to meet the needs of 
dairy cows, because of the traceable adverse influence some- 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 487 

times exerted on milk flavor. For nearly all kinds of do- 
mestic animals, water of swift current running through a 
yard will meet their needs, and at a minimum expenditure 
of labor. But sheep cannot always be induced to drink 
from such a source. In large lots they are best supplied with 
water in a low tank and where it will not congeal. Where 
it does, the tank should be in a yard and supplied with a 
heater. In small lots, the water is best supplied in a shallow 
tub in each compartment, from pails or hose, and these can 
be overturned in cold weather after the sheep have been 
supplied. It is simply cruel to deprive sheep of water in 
winter, except in so far as they can take it from the snow, 
although the practice is common. Water is usually supplied 
to swine not on pasture, in conjunction with the food. 

The frequency .with which water should be furnished 
to animals is dependent upon such conditions as : ( i ) The 
nature of the food fed; (2) the amount of performance 
required as to labor or the production of meat or milk, and 
(3) the temperature of the weather. 

The food may be given so succulent as to entirely ob- 
viate the necessity for giving water in addition, as when 
sheep are grazed on succulent pastures. When animals 
are fattened on field roots and meal only, with a very 
small addition of fodder, they require but little additional 
water. It would probably be correct to say, however, that 
no class of domestic animals except sheep can be kept long 
on pastures so succulent as to entirely eliminate the necessity 
for giving additional water. 

When labor or road driving is required of horses, they 
should be given water more frequently than when at rest. 
There are conditions when water supplied once a day for 
horses is ample when at rest and the same is true of other 
classes of domestic animals, but when exercised severely, 
especially in warm weather, a moderate amount furnished 
between meals in addition to what is furnished at other 
times is helpful. Ordinarily work horses are given water 
three times daily, that is, morning, noon and evening. Once 



488 FEEDING FARM AN I MAI 

a day may be sufficient to furnish water to store cattle, es- 
pecially when on moderately succulent pasture and in cool 
weather, but when kept entirely on dry food, they should 
have it twice a day. When bemg fattened or fed heavily 
for milk production, and largely or chiefly on dry food, 
they should be given water at least twice a day to meet the 
largely increased demand the increase in such food calls 
for. Similarly the demand for water increases with sheep 
and swine, with increase in grain fed. It is usually easily 
possible to supply water to sheep where it will be accessible 
much of the day or all of it, and this is the ideal way of 
furnishing it to them. Ordinarily water is supplied to swine 
in the slop fed to them, that is, it is given to them three 
times a day, but generally when pushed as in fattening, 
they should be given water additional tp the extent of their 
needs. 

The excretory organs, especially those of the skin, are 
so active in hot weather that much water is needed to sup- 
ply the loss. This means that it should be given more 
frequently in proportion as the heat increases, otherwise it 
is liable to be taken to excess. 

Opinions diflfer as to whether water should be given 
to horses before or after meals. The preponderance in 
opinion favors watering before meals to avoid washing out 
much of the food too soon from the small stomach of the 
horse, into the intestines. This would follow more or less, 
watering deferred until after meals. Some persons favor of- 
fering water before and after meals. With cattle, water is 
more commonly given between meals. They seem better sat- 
isfied when food is^iven before water. The stomach of cattle 
and sheep being large and therefore capable of holding 
large quantities of water, there would seem to be no physio- 
logical reasons why water should be given at one time 
rather than another. 

Shelter from weaning onward. — The degree of the 
shelter required from the weaning period onward, va- 
ries in the different classes of animals. It is decreasingly 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 489 

necessary with swine, cattle, sheep and horses, in the order 
named. It is more necessary for cows (see p. 438) than 
for growing cattle beyond calf-hood, and more necessary 
for growing cattle than for cattle that are being fattened. 
In fact it is more necessary for all classes of growing 
animals than for those of the same class that are being 
fattened, as the food which produces fat generates much 
heat, and the layer of fat underneath the skin is an ad- 
ditional protection. Climate also exercises an important 
influence. Stock exposed in latitudes where the air is dry 
and where the sunshine is relatively abundant, will suffer 
much less than animals exposed at equal temperatures 
where the air is damp and the weather dark and gloomy. 

Shelter for swine must be of a character to protect 
them from draughts and also from low temperatures. The 
temperature of the pens like that of the stables for dairy 
cows should range from, say 40 to 60°. Trials conducted at 
certain experiment stations show very clearly the benefit 
from fattening swine with suitable shelter as against fatten- 
ing under conditions the opposite. In a trial conducted at the 
Kansas experiment station, it was found that swine fur- 
nished with shelter during the 10 weeks of fattening, made 
100 pounds of increase on 25 per cent less corn than those 
exposed to yard conditions. The feeding began No- 
vember 27. 

The following includes some of the essentials best suited 
to furnishing shelter for stock cattle : ( i ) A suitably ven- 
tilated shed or dry and well lighted basement, warm enough 
to practically exclude freezing temperatures; (2) doors on 
the sunny side facing a yard protected from wind, and that 
may or may not be left open; (3) a well bedded yard that 
may at all times be kept dry. But even with these condi- 
tions it may be necessary to tie some of the weaker animals 
in stalls to adapt the food to their special needs. Succes- 
sive experiments conducted with yearlings at the Missouri 
station resulted markedly in favor of such protection as 
against yard conditions, with open shed. With cattle that 



490 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

are being fattened it may be different (see p. 395), unless 
care is taken not to keep the sheds too warm. 

The following includes some of the essentials best 
suited to furnishing shelter for a breeding flock of sheep: 
(i) A well-ventilated building enclosed and facing on the 
leeward side a sunny and protected yard; (2) except for 
the lambing-pen it is not necessary to seek additional 
warmth to that furnished by one thickness of matched 
boards; (3) doors cut across the center and hung on the 
yard side, to be kept open above or below as may be de- 
sired; (4) a yard at all times dry and kept well bedded 
when occupied. For sheep that are being fattened an open 
shed will suffice. 

An open shed will also suffice to furnish protection for 
colts subsequent to the age of one year and for idle horses. 
These should face protected yards, and the latter should 
have communication with paddocks or pastures to enable 
them at suitable times to take larger exercise. Work horses 
and foals need enclosed quarters in winter. The former be- 
ing tied, usually profit by blanketing in addition. 

Shelter for young animals. — The degree of the shelter 
required for young animals, more especially during 
the first few days of life, is much greater than in 
the case of animals that are older. This is true of all classes 
of animals, as foals, calves, lambs and pigs, but it is by no 
means equally true of them. The smaller the animal, the 
larger relatively the amount of surface for the radiation of 
body heat, and consequently the loss of heat is relatively 
greater. The leaner the young animal is also, the more 
intensified is this condition. 

Foals, of all young- farm animals, can best endure 
cold, owing first, to the greater relative size, and second to 
the naturally more active habits which they possess. But, 
in cold climates, the protection of an open shed which may 
be ample for colts more than one year old, would not be 
sufficient for the suckine foal. 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 49I 

Young calves would fare badly under conditions of ex- 
posure that would bring no harm to cattle that are older. 
If tied and thus prevented from taking exercise, the neces- 
sity for protection is considerably increased. One course 
of sheeting, in the absence of some additional covering as 
tar paper, on the side of a stable, does not in all instances 
make it warm enough for such calves. The necessity for 
better protection continues until they have passed the first 
winter, at whatsoever season they may have been born. 

Lambs are much more tender than calves during the 
first few hours of existence. When born in winter in cold 
climates, it is imperative that they come into life under con- 
ditions that will protect them from intense cold, as for in- 
stance in a lambing-pen or apartment, or in some portion 
of a dry basement. After lambs are a few days old, they 
do not take much harm from low temperatures, and when 
they reach the age of two or three weeks, they seem capaWc 
of enduring about as much cold as the older sheep. The 
explanation is found in part in the covering of wool given 
to them by nature, and in part in their active habits. 

Young swine are the most tender of the young quad- 
rupeds kept upon the farm. This arises in part from the 
sparse covering with which nature has furnished them. 
Under some climatic conditions, it may not be easy at all 
times to preserve life in the newly born pig, unless the 
apartment is specially well fitted to shut out extreme cold. 
A division of a well ordered basement may furnish such a 
place. In cold weather the quarters suitable for swine dur- 
ing the suckling period should be at least as warm as those 
suitable for dairy cows in milk. 

It is especially important that young animals be given 
the benefit of ample sunshine, that the pla,ces on which they 
rest shall be well bedded and dry, and that they are not 
exposed to falling storms, as snow, sleet or rain. The more 
of sunshine they enjoy, the better relatively will they 
prosper, but when they are to be slaughtered young, it is 
not necessary to provide sunlight or even much light. Damp 



492 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

sleeping- places are greatly injurious, and exposure to a 
cold rain or sleet storm may prove fatal. It should also be 
remembered, that the degree of the protection required in 
climates naturally damp is greater than in those naturally 
dry. 

Protection for stock in summer. — Although the neces- 
sity for protecting stock in winter is more important rela- 
tively than in summer, yet certain forms of protection in 
summer exercise an important influence on the returns 
which they will give for the food. They require protection : 
(i) From excessive heat; (2) from the disturbance caused 
by flies, and (3) in some instances from prolonged storms. 

Protection from heat in the case of horses, cattle, sheep 
and swine, can only be secured by shielding them from the 
hot rays of the sun, under conditions that will not tend to 
check the movement of air currents. With swine, the addi- 
tional provision of a wallow will add much to their com- 
fort. Protection from excessive sunshine is secured by 
means of shade in, or accessible to the pastures, and from 
the same buildings that furnish protection in winter. 

The ideal conditions for shade in pastures are found 
in a natural grove beside running water. A remnant of 
forest included in a permanent pasture and made accessible 
to other pastures is very suitable for providing shade. 
Clumps of trees are to be preferred to single trees, as they 
interfere less with cultivation. In planting trees to furnish 
shade, they do not virtually interfere with cultivation when 
planted in the corners of the pasture or field, and when 
planting them, those varieties should be preferred that 
grow quickly and that send their roots so far down as not 
to take harm readily because of the treading of stock. For 
this purpose no other tree excels the American elm. 
In the absence of trees, shade may be provided usually 
without much cost, by making a flat roof of poles sustained 
by posts and covered with straw. 

The stables used for shelter in winter, when properly 
ventilated, are usually cooler than groves in very hot 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 493 

weather. Basement stables are also cooler than ordinary 
stables. The stable protection has the further advantages 
of being less wasteful of the droppings and of protecting 
from flies. Where it can be arranged, especially during 
the season when flies are numerous, the ideal way for keep- 
ing cattle and sheep is to house them in the heat of the day 
and to give them the liberty of the pastures at other times. 

When stock are housed to protect from flies the stables 
or sheds must be darkened and yet ventilated. This is ac- 
complished by opening the windows to make air currents 
and by covering them at the same time with material, as 
coarse sacking, that will exclude much of the light, keep 
out flies, and that will at the same time, admit the air freely. 
Much may also be done to keep down flies by promptly re- 
moving the manure made which is a favorite breeding 
ground for flies, and strewing lime occasionally where it 
may do good around the buildings. 

Cattle are sometimes further protected from flies by 
spraying them every few days with some preparation, as 
sheep dip, or kerosene emulsion applied as a very fine spray. 
Where the number of animals is limited, it is applied with a 
brush. Such offensive preparations as fish oil, have also 
been used with good effect. These preparations are only 
effective for a few days at a time, hence, unless special 
apparatus has been fitted up for applying them quickly, as 
in a narrow passageway through which the animals are 
forced to pass, the labor involved is very considerable. To 
apply them thus, however, has been found perfectly feasible. 
Horses that are being driven are protected, of course, by 
covering them with suitable netting. The darkened sheds 
which furnish protection for sheep at the season indicated, 
would seem to furnish a safe asylum from the assaults of 
the gadfly. {Tahanus ruHcornis), which is the source of that 
trouble known as "grub in the head." The wallow for 
swine is a great source of comfort in hot weather, and is to 
some extent a protection from flies. 



494 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

Usually in the hot summer season, it is not very often 
that such stock as horses, cattle, sheep or swine, need 
protection from storms. In some instances, they may, how- 
ever, when these are prolonged, and especially when the 
rainfall is of the drenching character. In the late spring 
and early autumn, storms sometimes occur so prolonged 
and severe as to result in much harm to live stock that 
are not housed during their continuance. The reference is 
to cold rains. They are more harmful to stock than many 
of the snow storms of the winter. Lambs and young 
swine, and animals of all classes that are weakly, suffer 
much from them. The pastures also may suffer much from 
treading at such times, especially should the animals be 
possessed of much weight. 

Temperature in stables. — The degree of warmth re- 
quired by domestic animals differs: (i) With the species 
(see p. 98) ; (2) with condition in the animals (see p. 395) ; 
(3) with the age (see p. 490), and (4) with the climate 
(see p. 79). In many instances those differences have 
not been sufficiently regarded in the management of live 
stock. 

From what has just been stated, it will be manifest 
that the proper degree of temperature to be maintained in 
stables for domestic animals will vary considerably. For 
work horses that are tied and blanketed, the temperature 
should not go below, say 36°, nor above 60°, with, say 
about 48° as a mean. When not blanketed it may properly 
range higher by a few degrees. When loose in box stalls, 
it may be a few degrees lower. The degree of temperature 
named would also be suitable for foals, while young animals 
but older than foals would do as well or better with 
temperatures a few degrees lower. The temperature suited 
to dairy cows would run from, say 40 to 60°, with say, 
50° as a mean. 

For animals fattening it would run from 32 to 50°, 
with 40° as a mean. The more advanced the fattening 
period the lower should be the temperature. For calves 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 495 

the temperature should be the same as for cows, and for 
young animals that are older about the same as for cattle 
that are being fattened. P^or sheep unshorn, the nearer 
the temperature is to the freezing point but without freez- 
ing, the better. The aim should be to have the same range 
between ^2 and 50°, the latter being sufficiently warm for 
even newly born lambs and also for sheep that are newly 
shorn. For swine the temperature should be about the 
same as for dairy cows, 60° being sufficiently warm for 
newly born swine. 

Of course, in practice, it is not possible to keep tem- 
peratures within the ranges named either in winter or sum- 
mer, but much may be done to approximate them to the 
figures submitted, which are only given as general and 
not as absolute guides. The temperature in stables may rise 
higher than those named and no harm come to the animals, 
but they should not fall in any instances below the freezing 
point, where this can be avoided, except probably in the 
case of unshorn sheep which will take no harm though 
the temperatures should be lower. The lower the tempera- 
tures can be kept without harm to the animals, the better, 
because of the relatively greater abundance of the oxygen 
supply. 

To secure proper temperatures in winter in the absence 
of artificial heat, is no easy matter, and to provide artificial 
heat is not practical. Warmth must be secured through 
proper construction in the buildings, and not through 
air heated by the breathing of the animals in the absence of 
suitable ventilation. The temperature will then be regulated 
through ventilation, but the construction of buildings and 
ventilation cannot be discussed in this work. It may be said, 
however, that good ventilation in buildings is absolutely 
essential to highest performance in animals that are housed. 

To secure suitable temperature in summer is more 
difficult than in winter. At certain times it may be im- 
possible because of atmospheric conditions without. But 
much may be done to regulate temperatures by keeping 



496 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

animals in airy stables by day, and outside at night. Base- 
ment stables are relatively the cooler in summer. 

The sources of litter, — The following are the principal 
sources from which bedding or litter is obtained: (i) 
The straw of cereals in all the varieties thereof used direct- 
ly; (2) the rejected portions of straw and hay material 
supplied as food; (3) the uneaten parts of corn stalks and 
the sorghums when properly prepared; (4J refuse from 
certain manufactures; (5) the leaves of trees; (6) certain 
kinds of soil; (7) peat, in various stages of decay. 

The straw of cereals is by far the most important 
source of litter, and also the most suitable all things 
considered. Viewed simply from the standpoint of suit- 
ability, oat straw probably stands at the head, because of 
its softness. Rye straw does not break, up so much as 
some varieties in threshing, is less soft, and is slower of 
decay, hence it is so far less suitable. The straw of peas 
does not shake apart so readily as the straw of non-legumi- 
nous cereals, and this is so far against it. So convenient 
and suitable is the straw of the cereals for litter, that to 
grow an ample supply of this to be used alone or witli 
other absorbents, as loam and peat, is worthy of the care- 
ful consideration of the grower of live stock.- The fore- 
thought which holds over straw for litter and properly 
protected, from seasons when it is abundant against the 
need of seasons when it is scarce, is to be commended. 

Many kinds of straw are considered too valuable, more 
especially in old settlements, and justly so, for being used 
directly as litter. They are first fed and the refuse portions 
are then used as litter. This applies most markedly to the 
straw of legumes, which, when harvested properly, is 
more valuable as fodder than hay overripe or damaged. 
When hay is overripe at the time of harvesting, when it 
is damaged in the curing to the extent of lessening much 
of its palatability, and when it grows so as to be coarse and 
possessed of many large stems, live stock well fed will 
reject more or less of it. This may generally be used with 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 497 

hii^hest profit as litter, although in some instances it will be 
more profitable when cleaning out the feed boxes to give 
such refuse to animals that are being carried through the 
winter on a less palatable fodder ration. Hay rejected by 
work horses, cows or cattle that are being fattened, may 
thus be utilized by store cattle fed in sheds or otherwise. 

The rejected portions of corn stalks or of the sorghums 
do not furnish suitable litter when fed in the unprepared 
form, that is, when fed as they grew. Because of their 
stiffness and shape, they are not well suited for bedding, 
and there is the further objection that they add much to 
the labor in handling the manure. The objections to such 
litter may be in a great measure, and in some instances 
entirely overcome, by shredding or cutting up the stalks 
before they are fed. 

Prominent among the refuse from manufacturing es- 
tablishments used as litter, are sawdust, shavings and spent 
tan bark. The supply of these is more or less limited. Saw- 
dust has the merit of being clean and easily handled and 
will absorb three times its weight of liquid, but it is low 
in fertilizing ingredients, decays slowly and promotes fire- 
fang in manure heaps when present in the same, unless the 
contents are speedily applied to the land. Shavings do not 
fork readily and decay slowly. Spent tan bark is quite 
low in fertilizing constituents and may generally be better 
applied as a mulch. 

Leaves furnish suitable litter and rank considerably 
higher than straw in absorbing liquid, but they are not 
equal to straw as fertilizers. Moreover, the labor of gather- 
ing and storing them is considerable. The profit from 
using them, therefore, as litter, is sometimes to be ques- 
tioned, unless where cheaper sources of the same are not 
obtainable, or when they are necessary for the absorption 
of urine, much of which would otherwise be lost. 

Loam may answer for bedding in the absence of other 
materials, and may be used in conjunction with them, as 
when used in stables to absorb the liquids. Humus soils are 



498 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

also good because of their relative lightness and absorptive 
power. Clay soils are ill-suited to such a use, because of 
the tendency in them to bake when handling or tramped 
on while wet. One chief objection to soil as bedding is the 
labor involved in handling it. 

Moss and peat are frequently used for litter. Both 
stand high in their power to absorb liquids, but peat is 
richer in the elements of plant food than moss, although 
in this respect it varies much, dependent on the sources 
from which it is obtained and the stage of reduction which 
it has reached. It must, of course, be secured, allowed to 
dry and stored, before it can .be thus used, which means 
considerable labor, but there may be instances in which its 
use, especially as an absorbent, is to be commended. 

The uses of litter. — The principal objects sought 
in using litter are: (i) To add to the comfort of 
animals, more especially when they are taking rest; (2) 
to absorb the urine and to arrest volatile gases as ammonia ; 
(3) to increase the quantity of the manure. The first of 
these is, of course, primary, but usually all three are im- 
portant. 

Bedding or litter adds to the comfort of animals by 
furnishing them with a soft and dry bed, and in many in- 
stances by increasing the warmth of the same. From 
choice, animals will soon learn to select places where soft 
litter is most abundant, when given such liberty, thus plainly 
indicating that benefit will result from furnishing them such 
a bed. Animals also instinctively shun taking rest on a 
W'Ct bed. Rather than do so they will go for long periods 
without lying down, hence the importance of keeping yards 
well bedded and also sheds, when animals must take rest 
in one or the other. Litter supplies warmth in cold 
weather. It is particularly helpful in this respect when 
animals in the stall must take rest on cement or concrete 
floors, and when its presence in yards or sheds removes 
dampness. It is also very helpful in increasing warmth in 
swine when abundantly supplied. 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 499 

The liquid portion of the manure is very vakiable, and 
the plant food in it is readily available, hence the im- 
portance of saving it in a way that will conserve its proper- 
ties and make its application easily possilile. The old 
method of draining it into tanks and drawing it from these 
is objectionable, first, because of the expense and second, 
because of the extent to which nitrogen is lost when it is 
kept for any considerable time in these. It is considered 
preferable to absorb the liquid by using some kind of litter 
which may then be applied to the land. Certain gases, 
as ammonia, escape from manure in considerable quantities, 
especially from horse and sheep manure, and to prevent 
the same through fixation, certain substances are used. 
These are also used in cow stables to lessen the presence 
of odors that are injurious to milk. 

To absorb the liquids, straw is more commonly used 
because of its plentifulness, but leaves, moss, peat, and dry 
loam or muck, may also be used. Peat, loam, and muck in 
addition to their absorptive powers also lessen the extent to 
which odors are present. To prevent the escape of am- 
monia, land plaster has been much recommended and used. 
But the question of the profit resulting is not fully settled. 
Some good authorities claim that acid phosphate is superior 
to gypsum. Others claim that, cost considered, the use of 
dry peat, loam or muck is superior to either gypsum or 
acid phosphate. 

In localities where fertilizers are much prized, the free 
use of the absorbents named adds greatly to the quantity 
of fertilizing materials saved and also made. The increase 
is usually more cheaply secured than it would be by com- 
posting, more especially when the manure thus made is 
drawn at once and spread on the land. A saving is thus 
effected in labor, and the loss of plant food in the manure 
through leaching and excessive fermentation is reduced 
to the lowest minimum possible. But, of course, it is not 
always practicable to apply manure to the land thus quickly. 
Through the use of suitable absorbents, it should be easily 



500 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

possible to more than double the amount of the fertilizing 
ingredients made and saved in the absence of these. 

Preparing and using litter. — The proper preparation 
for use will, yf course, vary with its nature, and the source 
from which it is obtained. Prominent among the processes 
to be followed are : ( i j The proper housing or stacking 
of straw; {2) the chaffing of straw and the shredding of 
the stalks of corn and sorghum, and (3) the storing of 
earth, the gathering of moss and the drying and storing of 
peat. 

Wet litter is worse than none, as it is prejudicial to the 
well-doing of all kinds of domestic animals. Straw may 
most easily be kept dry by housing it, but frequently this 
may not be practicable. When it is not. it should be stacked 
with care and conveniently to where it will be used. The 
'"blowers" used so extensively in threshing, as generally 
used make careful stacking almost impossible, with the 
result that a large proportion of the straw is made useless 
for bedding through the rain which penetrates it. 

Straw of the small cereal grains is more commonly 
used without being chaffed, but where this can be done 
in conjunction with the threshing of the grain, the benefit 
which results from the less quantity called for, and the 
superior condition of the manure for immediate application, 
more than pay for the added cost. When thus chaffed, the 
length of the pieces are from, say 2 to 4 inches. Corn and 
sorghum stalks are greatly improved as litter by shredding, 
a process which tears them up into strips and makes them 
in a sense like straw. The shredding is primarily done to 
prepare them for food, and only the rejected portions are 
ordinarily used for litter. In moist climates it is not easy 
to preserve fodder shredded thus, but it is quite practicable 
in the more dry regions of the West. Earth must be drawn 
and stored when dry to be properly serviceable, light loam^ 
and humus soils are to be preferred and clays should be 
rejected. Moss must, of course, be gathered and stored 
when the condition of the marshes which supply it makes 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 5OI 

this practicable, and the same is true of peat. In some in- 
stances, the peat must first be dried by laying- it open to the 
sun. 

The mode of using litter will vary with its nature and 
with the conditions under which the animals are kept. Earth 
and peat are more commonly used as absorbents in con- 
junction with other litter used to provide a suitable bed on 
which the animals may lie. When thus used, they are more 
commonly spread in the trench behind the stalls in which 
the droppings and urine accumulate. But in some instances, 
especially in western Europe, these substances are used as 
the sole sources of litter. They are placed in the stall to 
the depth of several inches and are removed at intervals. 

When straw or fodder is first fed, and the rejected 
portion used as bedding, the source of supply is very con- 
venient since the labor involved consists simply in removing 
the refuse from the manger or food box and spreading it 
in the stall in the one instance or in the shed or yard in the 
other. Cattle that are being fattened or cows fed plenti- 
fully on good food will not eat any considerable quantity 
of straw, but this does not hold true of cattle or horses that 
are being carried through the winter, and it is even less true 
of breeding flocks of sheep. When fed at the noon hour, 
the refuse is ready for use as litter just when it is most 
wanted, that is as night approaches. 

When animals are confined in stalls the larger por- 
tion of the day, care should be taken by the attendant to 
throw back the droppings that may have fallen upon the 
platform several times during the day, to insure greater 
cleanliness. When they run at large in sheds and yards, the 
frozen droppings should be removed occasionally, when 
they cannot be deeply covered with litter. It is usual to 
supply litter but once a day. 

The amount of litter required will vary with the class 
of animals, the food fed and the materials used. Horses 
call for the least in proportion to their weight and swine 
probably for the most in cold weather. Show animals 



502 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

must be supplied plentifully with bedding. Animals loose 
in box stalls, sheds or yards call for more than those tied 
in the stall. The minimum supply of straw bedding for a 
horse, has been put at 5 pounds by some authorities. For 
a mature cattle beast in the stall, it has been put at about 
one-fourth to one-third of the dry matter fed, or at, say 
7 to 10 pounds. When earth only is used, as much as 150 
pounds daily will be wanted. A bushel basket full of dry 
peat daily per animal will usually suffice as an absorbent 
of the liquids. 

The season for breeding. — The season when the 
young animals may be produced with best advantage will 
depend : (i) On the use that is to be made of them, and also 
of the dams; (2) on the conveniences available in properly 
caring for them, and (3) on the time that may be secured 
in giving them the necessary care. 

Foals are usually born in the spring, a result that is 
probably to be attributed to custom more than to anything 
else. The reasons are weighty, however, why the aim 
should be to have them produced in the autumn. In a 
majority of instances idleness, from the very nature of farm 
work is enforced on the dams in winter, and work is de- 
sired of them in summer, which means that such mares 
can better sustain their foals in winter and can also render 
more efficient service in summer. The work thus given, 
if not excessive, would be beneficial to the foal in embryo 
which she might carry at such a time. There has been 
complaint that conception in the autumn is not so sure as 
in the spring, and it is probably well grounded, but if true, 
there are no good reasons why this greater shyness of con- 
ception on the part of brood mares at that season may not 
be overcome. 

The advantages of having cows produce their young in 
the autumn include the following: (i) It secures abundant 
milk in winter which is more profitable than at any other sea- 
son; (2) more time can be secured for taking care of the 
calvCvS during the period of feeding milk, and (3) the wean- 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 503 

ing season comes at a propitious time, that is, when grass Is 
succulent. The second and third of these advantages ap- 
ply equally to foals. 

The season for lambs to arrive is from November 
I to June I, according to the market for which they 
are grown and as to whether they are grown for 
breeding uses. Milk lambs are best in season when 
produced between November i and February i. Eas- 
ter lambs are best produced from January i to March i. 
Spring lambs for the general market come most oppor- 
tunely in March and April, and lambs for autumn and win- 
ter feeding, from April onward. For breeding uses they 
usually develop somewhat better when born in the early 
rather than the late spring. 

When but one litter of swine is reared in a season 
it may be produced any season that may be most convenient 
after settled cold weather is gone, which will give the pigs 
time to develop sufficiently for the market for which they 
are intended. When two litters are wanted, March and 
April are auspicious months for the first litter, and Sep- 
tember and October for the second. The earlier month in 
each instance is to be preferred. 

Where the conveniences are not at hand for properly 
protecting young animals from inclement weather, or for 
furnishing them and the dams with suitable food, they 
should not be brovight forth under such conditions. These 
conditions sometimes exist on the arable farm and are very 
frequently present in range areas. 

Young animals, from the nature of their necessities, 
call for more attention than animals that are older. The 
time for giving it is less easily secured from the beginning 
of seed time to the end of harvest, when farm work is al- 
ways pressing. Because of this and for other reasons, the 
aim should be to avoid having young animals brought into 
existence at such a time. 

The season at which young animals shall be born can- 
not be completely controlled by the owner of the stock, but 



504 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

usually it can. He can control the time of mating, but of 
course, not in all instances the time of conception. The ex- 
tremes in the duration of the period of gestation in the 
mare may be set down approximately as 295 to 370 days ; 
in the cow as 265 to 300 days; in the ewe as 145 to 154 
days, and in the sow as no to 118 days. The average dura- 
tion approximately of the period of gestation in the mare 
is 330 days ; in the cow, 282 days ; in the ewe, 149 days, and 
in the sow 113 days. Usually when breeding animals are 
in a normal condition as to health and flesh and are properly 
fed and of sufficient age, they may be depended upon to 
breed with much certainty and near to the time desired. 

The dam at parturition. — The time of parturition is 
a more or less critical one with the dam. Neglect or in- 
judicious feeding at such a time may readily prove fatal 
to both the dam and her offspring. With reference to it, 
the following recommendations will always be in order : 
(i) The food preceding parturition should be more or 
less succulent and slightly laxative ; ( 2 ) the owner or per- 
son in charge should aim to be present when it occurs, and 
(3) the dam should be fed with a prudent caution for 
some time subsequently. 

Succulence in the food is beneficial : ( i ) In the 
tendency which it exerts on the digestion in preventing con- 
stipation, (2) in the influence which it exerts in con- 
sequence in counteracting all tendency to feverishness such 
as a constipated condition of the system is sure to induce, 
and (3) in furnishing in plentiful supply, food for the 
progeny as soon as born. Some caution, however, is neces- 
sary in the case of cows known to be free milkers, lest the 
strong tendency to superabundant milk secretion should so 
react on tlie vital forces of the system as to result in milk 
fever, that dread malady, which, until recently, proved so 
fatal to dams when it appeared. In summer, no food is 
superior to grass, and at other seasons, such food adjuncts 
as field roots, wheat bran, oil cake and corn ensilage with 
but little of the grain in it, are all good. 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 505 

The advantage from the presence of an attendant may 
result from various occurrences. These inckide an abnormal 
presentation which may call for assistance ; feebleness in 
the progeny such as may require aid without which it would 
succumb; and in rare instances a viciousness on the part of 
the dam which would result in harm to her offspring. In 
inclement weather, the necessity for the presence of an at- 
tendant is proportionately increased. The profits that oc- 
cur from keeping live stock are probably influenced more 
by the results at the time of parturition, than by those oc- 
curring at any other period. 

The condition of the dam at parturition is always more 
or less fevered. This fever creates thirst. To relieve this, 
water should be supplied to the extent of the desire of the 
dam to take it. But in no case should the water be cold. 
In all instances the chill should be removed from it to pre- 
vent a chill being given to the system, which, at such a time, 
would almost certainly prove fatal. This caution should be 
observed for some time subsequently to parturition. 

No harm is likely to result from allowing dams to eat 
all the dry fodder they will consume after the birth of their 
progeny. But in no instance should they be given large 
quantities of concentrates for several days after parturition. 
Feeding them thus freely at such a time tends to produce 
disturbances in the udder which may readily prove fatal 
to both dam and progeny. . Any excess of milk in the udder 
should be taken from it by hand milking, where this is 
practicable. The time required to put dams on a full grain 
ration subsequent to parturition varies from one to three 
weeks, according to the conditions present. 

Amount of exercise. — Live stock cannot be grown to 
maturity with highest success unless they are given the op- 
portunity to exercise according to their needs during the 
process of development. The necessity for exercise varies, 
as also the amount of the same : ( i ) With the age of the 
animals; (2) with the class of the same; (3) with the object 
for which they are kept, and (4) with the nature and 
amount of the food given to them. 



506 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

The necessity for exercise is greatest when animals are 
young- and decreases with advancing age. It is based on the 
relation that obtains between exercise and the removal of 
waste matter that would otherwise accumulate in the system., 
and also between exercise and the firming of the muscles, 
to enable them to fulfill effectively the respective functions 
required of them. It stimulates the circulatory blood flow and 
quickens all the vital processes. The necessity for taking 
it is indicated in the eagerness with which young animals 
exercise, and the amount of it which they take when the 
opportunity for the same is furnished. Young animals, 
therefore, should in no instances be closely confined unless 
they are to be slaughtered at an early age. 

The importance of exercise is greatest in the horse. 
This arises in part from the fact that he is kept for pur- 
poses of labor and travel. The measure of the ability for 
both has been found to co-ordinate in a marked degree with 
the amount of exercise taken during development and also 
subsequently. Exercise for sheep comes next in importance, 
as a result of inherent original endowment. The sheep by 
nature is much inclined to travel while grazing. Swine can 
be reared with less exercise relatively than cattle, but they 
also must be given large liberty to exercise if they are to 
maintain sufficient health and vigor. 

Animals kept primarily for labor require the largest 
amount of exercise. Those kept primarily for breeding 
come next, and those that are being fattened call for the 
least. The necessity for proper exercise with horses is only 
second in importance to the necessity for proper food. Ex- 
perience has invariably shown that the larger the amount 
of exercise taken by breeding animals up to that point at 
which exercise would begin to draw on the energies of the 
system, the more valuable are they as breeders, and the 
more successfully do they breed. With animals that are 
being fattened, exercise beyond a limited amount would 
draw on the energies of the system, and as a result there 
would be antagonism between exercise beyond this point 
and the most abundant laying on of flesh. 



CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 507 

When animals are kept for purposes of labor, or for 
breeding, or for both uses, it is very evident that a low con- 
dition of flesh calls for less exercise than a condition the 
opposite, sustained by high feeding. Every pound of flesh 
in excess of the complete needs of the animal becomes 
burdensome and should be removed by increased exercise or 
reduced feeding, or both. On the other hand, a condition 
of flesh below the complete needs of the animal should be 
strengthened by increased feeding and curtailed exercise. 

It is impossible to formulate rules for exercising an- 
imals that will exactly meet the needs of all conditions that 
may arise, but some things may be said that will in a sense 
serve as a general guide under some conditions. Much 
must be left to the .judgment of the owner or attendant. 
The aim should be to give young and growing animals, 
grown for labor or for breeding, all the exercise they will 
take voluntarily, under favorable conditions for taking the 
same. Horses, when mature, if given liberty, will take 
enough of exercise voluntarily, except it may be in the case 
of pregnant draught mares (See p. 120.) Stallions should 
be exercised daily, especially in the breeding season. 
Draught stallions will profit by being walked half a dozen 
miles a day, and other stallions will profit by a longer 
journey and a somewhat quicker but easy gait. 

All pregnant animals should be given the opportunity 
to move about daily in a yard, paddock or field, except in 
stormy weather, and the same is true of stock males. When 
snow is deep, it may be beneficial to give sheep a part 
of their food at some distance from the sheds, in a shel- 
tered place, to encourage them to take exercise. Roads 
may have to be opened in some instances with snow 
ploughs. Likewise it may be advantageous to encourage 
brood sows to take exercise by strewing grain in various 
places that will give the sows exercise while gathering it. 
Pregnant cows seem to take harm less readily from con- 
fined conditions than pregnant dams of other farm animals. 



508 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

In some instances, these have produced progeny with rea- 
sonable success when tied in the stall uninterruptedly for 
months in succession. It is questionable, however, if the 
plan is a wise one. 

The amount of exercise that cows in milk should have, 
is in some respects an undecided question. When out on 
pasture, every step taken in excess of the needs of the cow, 
viewed from the standpoint of good health is taken at the 
expense of milk production. But in winter another factor, 
viz., cold, has to be contended with. This beyond a certain 
degree is antagonistic to milk production, even when cows 
are taking outdoor exercise that would otherwise be bene- 
ficial to them. The best solution of this question probably 
is, to turn them daily into a well lighted and well bedded 
closed shed, in which they may exercise daily in cold weather, 
and to give them access to protected yards in warmer 
weather. 

Animals that are being fattened for the block do not 
require much exercise, and yet experience has shown that 
even with them, some exercise is helpful rather than an- 
tagonistic to increase, and that they also ship better when 
given some exercise. The more forced the feeding, the 
more beneficial will exercise be up to a certain limit. Ani- 
mals with some exercise do not get "off feed" so readily as 
those with none. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS. 

Prominent among the miscellaneous considerations are 
the following- : 

1. The weigh scale as an educator. 

2. Weight of animals at birth. 

3. Variation in weights of animals. 

4. Influences that affect palatability. 

5. Feeding subsequent to weaning. 

6. Feeding for quick conception. 

7. Salt and its uses. 

8. Silage a varying quantity. 

9. Feeding miscellaneous products. 
These are discussed in the order given. 

The weigh scale an educator. — When animals are be- 
ing fed large quantities of food with a view to the produc- 
tion of milk or meat, it is of prime importance to the 
owner that they shall give an adequate return for the same. 
The exact nature of this return cannot be known, without 
frequent recourse to the weigh scale. Even the skilled 
feeder may be deceived as to the nature of the gains, when 
ani:i;als are being fed liberally, and more especially when 
they are nearing the finishing period. The weigh scale, 
therefore, aids in the economical feeding of live stock: 
( I ) In making the comparison of foods possible and prac- 
ticable ; (2) in indicating exactly the product resulting from 
the food, and (3) because of the information thus given, it 
tends to make the person who uses it a student of the 
science of feeding. The benefit last named is by far the 
greatest, because of the influence which it exerts on future 
feeding and management. 

Without the weigh scale, the feeder cannot tell exactly 
which of two or more rations that he inay choose from will 

509 



510 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

best suit his purpose. He may have an approximate idea 
from the results obtained by previous experimenters in 
feeding the same rations, in the same way and under the 
same conditions. But, should the conditions be changed, 
or any of the ingredients in the rations, or the amounts of 
these fed, factors are introduced which will lead to different 
results, how far different, the weigh scale only can ac- 
curately determine. 

In the fattening processes, the various foods fed are 
usually relatively costly, so costly that the increase in live 
weight seldom equals in value the foods used in making it. 
(See p. 384). This result follows, even though the food 
and feeding are both well adapted to the end sought. It 
is greatly important, therefore, that the gains shall bear 
a due relation to the cost of the food, and that they shall 
be liberal and continuous. The daily cost of food for a 
mature cattle beast, while being fattened, runs all the way 
from 10 to 25 cents per day. Where only partial gains re- 
sult, the loss resulting piles up rapidly. The same is true 
when cows in milk are liberally fed without making cor- 
responding returns. 

In stables where the milk, of each cow is weighed as 
soon as taken throughout the year, relative capacity in 
the cows for production soon becomes known. This of 
course, does not tell the whole story, unless the food also is 
weighed that is given to each cow, which is scarcely prac- 
ticable in the ordinary stable. But it gives an approximate 
idea of relative production in proportion to cost of food, so 
approximately accurate that it enables the keeper of cows 
to weed out those least profitable and to supplant them with 
others without the hazard of serious mistake. Likewise, 
the weigh scale may be made to indicate the degree of the 
return for food fed at any stage of development. But when 
taking the weights alive, the liability to fluctuations in the 
same must not be overlooked. (See p. 514.) When due at- 
tention is thus given to the extent of the production that is 
being secured, the invariable result is to stimulate the 



MISCELLANEOUS COXSTDERATIONS 5II 

owner to increase these. To do so, he becomes a student of 
methods. It would be safe to say that no person who 
weighs daily the milk of all his cows will long be content 
with low average production in his herd. 

Weight of animals at birth. — The following are chief 
among the influences that affect the weight of animals at 
birth: (i) The size of the dam; (2) the age of dam; (3) 
the breed of both sire and dam; (4) the food given to the 
dam during gestation; (5) the performance of the dam dur- 
ing the same period; (6) the number produced at one birth, 
and (7) the size of the sire. 

It is but reasonable to suppose that there is a relation 
between the size of the dam and her offspring. This rela- 
tion may not be uniform and constant, owing to the many 
influences that affect size in the progeny. The belief in 
such a relation on the part of practical breeders is shown 
in the preference which they give to well developed dams 
when seeking progeny of superior development. This fact 
is also recognized by scientists who have studied the ques- 
tion, when they seek to establish an approximate relation 
between the weight of the dam and her offspring based 
upon her weight. 

It has been observed that the best averages in size have 
been obtained in progeny from females in the meridian of 
vigor and maturity. Since it has been noticed that progeny 
of the first birth from a dam not yet mature is usually of 
less size at birth than the progeny of future births, prac- 
tical men are chary about rearing such animals for future 
breeding. They give the preference to the former. That 
progeny of animals yet immature or past the meridian of 
vigor would be of less average size, is in accord with the 
known laws of physiology. The food given to the former 
is more or less diverted from the fcEtus to complete growth. 
That given to the latter is less perfectly assimilated than 
at a later period. 

That breed exercises an influence on the relative size 
of the progeny at birth is in accord with the first law of 



512 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

breeding; viz., that like produces like. It is oniy reasonable 
to suppose that the average size of the progeny at birtl> 
would be larger from the Clyde mare than from the mare 
standard bred ; that from the Shorthorn cow, larger 
than progeny from the Jersey; that from the Lincoln, 
larger than progeny from the Southdown, and that from 
the large Yorkshire, larger than progeny from the 
small Yorkshire. And so it is on the average in these 
respective instances. 

It could not be otherwise than that the food given 
to the dam during pregnancy exercised a determining in- 
fluence on the size of the progeny at birth, since foetal de- 
velopment is a direct result of the constituents contained in 
the food. An excess of carbohydrates is adverse to develop- 
ment and an excess of protein is liable to result in impaired 
vitality. 

Performance in the pregnant dam influences size 
through the diversion of the energies of the system. Nor- 
mal and ordinary exercise of those energies is favorable 
to foetal development, through the healthy influence ex- 
erted by use in the various functions of the system. For 
instance, regular breeding not excessive in frequency, will 
produce more desirable progeny as a rule than fitful breed- 
ing. But should the energies of the system be over-taxed 
during pregnancy, as when the cow is carried through a 
high pressure milking test, or the pregnant mare is over- 
worked, or the pregnant ewe is put into high show condi- 
tion, the influence is adverse to both size and vigor in 
the progeny. 

That the number produced at a birth influences size 
at birth is sustained by the evidences of observation and 
experience. Although the results are not constant, and in 
the nature of things cannot be, the average weight of single 
lambs at birth, is greater than that of twin lambs in the 
same flock. This also is true of the average weight of 
pigs in large litters as compared with those of small litters. 



MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS 513 

That the sire exercises an influence on the size of the 
progeny at birth has been denied. Of course, such influ- 
ence is less on the part of the sire than on that of the 
dam in the very nature of things. But that the sire does 
exercise such an influence is clearly shown in cross breed- 
ing where the size of the sire is much in excess of that of 
the dam. The influence thus exerted by the sire, however, 
in determining the Hmit of possible development in the 
progeny at maturity is greater than in determining actual 
size at birth because of the various influences intra uterine 
in character that offset foetal development, and that cease 
to be operative subsequently. In other words, ultimate 
development, the outcome of influence exerted by the sire, 
may be greater relatively at maturity than at the birth of the 
progeny. 

It follows, therefore, that possible size at maturity is 
not fixed by relative size at birth, although there is doubt- 
less some relation between tiiese. Possible size at maturity 
is determined by inheritance from both sire and dam, and 
to some extent from the ancestry of these. Illiberal feeding 
may result in possible development being unattained. But 
no feeding, however liberal, can result in development be- 
yond the limit set by inheritance, that is to say, feeding 
more food than would be regarded as a sufficient ration will 
not carry development beyond what it would attain by giv- 
ing simply a sufficient ration, but it may reach such develop- 
ment more quickly. 

It is evident, therefore, that it is not possible to state 
exactly the maximum, minimum or average weights of 
young animals at birth. However, basing the es- 
timates on records of weights that have been taken, 
it would be approximately correct to say that the 
average weight of standard bred foals whose dams 
and sires range between 1000 and iioo pounds would 
be somewhere in the vicinity of 100 to no pounds, 
and that draught foals would be proportionately heavier ac- 
cording to the weight of the parents, in normal condition as 



514 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

to flesh. The weight of calves runs all the way from 50 
to 125 pounds, the average being somewhere in the neigh- 
borhood of 80 pounds. The average weight of lambs, large, 
intermediate and small breeds, is somewhere in the vicinity 
of 7 to 8 pounds. The average weight of pigs of the dif- 
ferent breeds is somewhere between 2 and 2^ pounds. 

Variations in weights of animals, — The live weight 
of animals varies so much from day to day, that in experi- 
ments which call for frequent weighings, it becomes a dis- 
turbing factor to the extent of leading to incorrect con- 
clusions, unless the weights are taken as the average of 
several weighings rather than as single. These variations 
occur in weights taken at different hours the same day or 
on successive days, insomuch, that even with animals that 
are neither gaining nor losing in flesh, the same weight 
precisely can seldom or never be attained from weighing at 
different times. 

These variations are relatively more pronounced in cat- 
tle and sheep than in horses and swine, owing probably to 
the less relative capacity in the digestive organs of the latter 
to hold large quantities of food, and to the shorter period 
during which it is retained in the system. But even in the 
case of horses, the difference in live weight from day to 
day has been not less than 25 pounds, though weighed at 
the same hour each morning and before any food or water 
had been given to them. The difference in the daily weigh- 
ings of mature cattle similarly weighed has, in some in- 
stances, exceeded 50 pounds. 

These variations are the outcome chiefly : ( i ) Of the 
different amounts of food consumed and retained in the 
system, and (2) of the different amounts of water drunk 
and also retained beyond the time when the weights were 
taken. They are also influenced to some extent by the in- 
crease or loss in flesh, by the water content of the tissues, 
and in the case of animals in milk by the amount of milk 
withdrawn. 



MISCELLANEOb'S CONSIDERATIONS 515 

The vanaiions resulting from food is caused more by 
irregular movement in the evacuations than by a difference 
in the amount of food consumed. The difference in the 
amount of solids excreted by mature cattle at rest has been 
found, in some instances, to vary fully 25 pounds per day. 
With animals that are exercised, the difference may be 
greater. It has also been noticed that the movement of 
food in digestion is less regular when the diet has recently 
been changed. 

The dift'erence in the amount of water consumed from 
day to day is likely to be much greater than that in the 
food consumed. It is more likely to be influenced by a 
change of temperature in the atmosphere. It is also in- 
fluenced by a change of temperature in the water itself. 
When it is called to mind that the stomach of a mature 
ox is capable of holding from lOO to 150 pounds of water, 
and that the excretion of urine is more or less irregular, 
it will be readily apparent how the amount of water con- 
sumed may lead to variations in the live weight of animals. 

These variations account for the extravagant gains that 
are sometimes claimed for animals on full feed. A well 
grown steer at the Kansas experiment station showed, in 
one instance, a loss of 2 pounds as the result of seven days 
feeding on a fattening ration. At the end of the following 
seven days he showed a gain of 47 pounds or nearly 7 
pounds per day. They also show the necessity for the 
utmost care in drawing conclusions based on weights while 
conducting experiments with live stock that relate to in- 
crease or decrease. Some stations have adopted the safe 
plan of weighing three days in succession under exactly 
the same conditions and taking the average of these as 
representing the true weight. 

Influences that affect palatability. — The great im- 
portance of palatability in foods has already been dis- 
cussed (see p. 51). The influences that affect it 
will now be considered. These include : ( i ) The in- 
trinsic properties of the plant; (2) the nature of the 



5l6 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

growth; (3) the inherent tastes of the animals to which 
the foods are fed, and (4) the extent to which those tastes 
have been cultivated by feeding upon plants different from 
those to which the animals have been accustomed. 

The intrinsic properties of the plants are influenced : 
(i) By the class to which they belong; (2) by the amount 
of leaf growth; (3) by the extent to which woodiness is 
present or absent, and (4) by the aroma. Legumes are 
usually more palatable than other plants but this does not 
always hold true, as blue grass when young is more 
palatable than red clover at the same stage of ad- 
vancement in growth. Usually, however, domestic ani- 
mals show a fondness for legumes. Sugar in plants 
also affects their palatability. This in part accounts for 
the fondness of domestic animals for corn and more par- 
ticularly for sorghum, both of which are non-leguminous. 
The more abundantly that leaf growth is present, the greater 
is the degree of palatability in plants. This is owing in 
part to the absence of woodiness, in part to the fine char- 
acter of the growth, and probably in part to the higher 
nutrition which they possess. As plants become woody, 
they lose in palatability. This is very clearly shown in the 
consumption of the leaves and finer portion of the stems 
of coarse clover hay, while the coarse stems will be re- 
jected in the same. The same is true of corn plants. In 
nearly all instances, plants which are rejected by animals 
for which they are the natural food when far advanced in 
growth, will be eaten by the same when young. Foxtail 
{Alopecurus pratensis) for instance, is readily consumed 
by sheep when young, but when advanced in growth they 
will not eat it at all if they can secure other food. The same 
is true of some other plants even of plants as valuable as 
timothy. The aroma of plants also influences their pal- 
atability in a marked degree. The presence of this prop- 
erty is conveyed through the yielding up or giving off of 
certain volatile odors, which are gratifying to the sense 
of smell. These are emitted in a marked degree by new 



MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS 517 

mown hay. When much exposed, as by bleaching, or when 
wet with dew or rains, these properties are dissolved or 
washed out of the plants, and in proportion as they are 
they lose in palatability. 

The nature of the growth affects the palatability of 
plants: (i) Through the rapidity or slowness of the 
growth; (2) through the relative amount of the bulk pro- 
duced, and (3) through the proportion of the stem to the 
leaf growth. The more quickly that plants grow as a rule, 
the more palatable are they, as quick growth is favorable 
to succulence and adverse to woodiness. The more bulky 
the foods are, the coarser are the fibres of the plants, and 
the coarser the fibres are, the less is the degree of the pal- 
atability. Slow growth is unfavorable to a large propor- 
tion of leaf growth, and a large proportion of stem growth 
is adverse to palatability. 

The inherent tastes of animals have an influence on 
the degree to which foods are palatable to them. The horse, 
for instance, is fond of timothy hay, but the sheep does not 
take kindly to it. The goat is more fond of leaves and 
smafl twigs than of grass while sheep are much more fond 
of grass, and cattle will consume leaves only to a small extent 
except under pressure of hunger. Horses are usually more 
fond of carrots than of other field roots, while swine are 
less fond of these than of any other varieties of roots. In- 
stances illustrating this subject could be multiplied in- 
definitely. 

Palatability in foods may be influenced by cultivating 
the taste so to speak of the animals which feed upon them. 
Sheep grown upon the western ranges will usually refuse 
to feed upon rape when first turned in upon it if they 
have access to grass at the same time. Soon they become 
so fond of it tliat they prefer it to grass. Cattle in north- 
ern areas will not feed upon sweet clover unless compelled 
to do so through hu;iger, but catttle in the southern states 
in certain areas will eat it with more or less relish. The 



5l8 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

liking for certain products may thus be cultivated to the 
extent of engrafting it as a permanent feature of the or- 
ganization. 

Feeding subsequent to weaning. — The importance of 
keeping animals intended for meat pushing without any 
period of stagnation in growth, or even without any period 
of seriously retarded growth, has already been dwelt upon. 
(See p. 371.) Such a period is more likely to occur just 
after weaning than at any other time during growth. It is 
of considerable importance, therefore, that it shall be pre- 
vented. This is quite possible where the necessary measures 
are taken to prevent it. 

The hazard at such a time arises, first, from cutting ofif 
a supply of food that is greatly relished by the young ani- 
mals, that the digestive system is accustomed to, that is 
easily digested and that is very nourishing; second, sub- 
stituting therefor a diet that is less relished, that the diges- 
tive system is less accustomed to or not accustomed to at all, 
and that is not so easily digested. And third, because the 
weaning season frequently occurs at a season when the graz- 
ing has lost much of its succulence and when cold weather, 
with its rigors, is approaching. The earlier the age at 
which the weaning occurs, the greater is the degree of the 
hazard referred to. 

Arrested development at such a time, may be almost 
or entirely prevented, by gradually accustoming the young 
animals before weaning, as far as may be practicable, to the 
foods that will form their diet afterward. 

This may not be easily practicable in all instances, as 
for instance, when cows suckle their calves on the range 
or even on the farm, or when lambs are born in the 
pastures, the dams in neither instance being given grain 
during the nursing period. But, when the dams are fed 
grain, it is easily possible to get the progeny which they 
suckle accustomed to eating the same, by allowing them to 
learn to eat it, at first apart from the dam, and later if 
thought best, as a matter of convenience, with the dam. 



MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS 5ig 

The weaning will, in such instances, be so gradual that it 
will not in any way hinder growth. When animals are 
hand-fed, the conditions that relate to feeding may be easily 
and completely controlled. 

When weaning animals, the aim should be to secure 
the following conditions, as far as may be practicable : ( i ) 
Shutting off the milk supply gradually. This is most easily 
done by giving it less frequently, as by feeding but once a 
day instead of twice; (2) furnishing a liberal supply of 
concentrated food such as is best adapted to the needs of 
the animals. Oats should furnish the basic grain food for 
foals and lambs, and even for calves when not too expensive, 
but some corn and a small amount of oil cake added will be 
an improvement. Shorts is the basic food for young swine, 
but here also, corn will improve the ration, and it may be 
freely fed along with skim milk. The supply of grain ought 
to be liberal; (3) fodder of high quality should be provided 
to encourage large consumption of the same, or if in sea- 
son, the pastures should be succulent and nutritious. When 
weaning takes place in the spring, as soon as the pastures 
become abimdant, the grain allowance may be gradually re- 
duced. 

In the case of young animals not accustomed to wean- 
ing, the best that can be done is to place grain in the fields, 
paddocks or stables in which they are kept. In time they 
will begin to eat it, but not until some loss may have oc- 
curred in development. If one or more animals of nearly 
similar ages are turned into the enclosure, the example 
which they set will lead the others to eat grain sooner than 
they would without such example. 

The age for weaning will, of course, vary. Foals 
should be allowed to suck their dams for not less than 
six months, and the same is true of calves. Lambs are us- 
ually weaned in four to five months from birth. Swine 
should take nourishment from their dams for 10 to 12 
weeks, unless when two litters per season are required 
of the dams, in which instances, the nursing period is cut 



520 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

down to eight weeks. . When calves are hand-fed, the 
period of milk feeding is not usnally extended to beyond 
four months. The more completely the young animals are 
accustomed to food supplemental to the milk taken, the 
earlier the age at which they may be weaned without hin- 
dering development. 

Feeding for quick conception. — It is frequently a 
matter of considerable importance that females shall breed 
at a certain season of the year and within the limit of a 
somewhat short period. The object sought is to meet the 
demands of the market better than if the progeny are 
produced at other seasons. These demands relate in some 
instances to the progeny itself, and in others to the ac- 
companying or resulting milk product. This may fre- 
quently be attained, though not in all instances, by the na- 
ture of the food given to the dam for a short time previously 
to the mating season. 

Mares and cows maintained in reasonably high flesh 
will usually come in heat at regularly occurring periods, 
beginning with the former within a few days subsequently 
to the birth of the foal, and with the latter within three 
to six weeks of the birth of the calf. But in a considerable 
proportion of instances, cows do not breed that suckle their 
calves until a considerable proportion of the nursing period 
has passed. Ewes and sows will not breed as a rule, while 
nursing their young. Nor will females of any class breed 
when the condition of the system is reduced beyond a cer- 
tain point. But when thus reduced and nourishing, suc- 
culent food is given to the extent of making a marked im- 
provement in the vigor possessed by the animal, all the vital 
forces share in such invigoration, and also all the functions 
that may be operative at such a time, including those which 
pertain to conception. From what has been said, it will 
be apparent that it is much more difficult to influence con- 
ception in animals already in good flesh. 

To secure quick conception in cows of moderate or 
low flesh, they should be given more stimulating and nour- 
ishing food rich in protein. It is in a sense imperative 



MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS 52 1 

also, that it shall oe possessed of a considerable degree of 
succulence. Usually the object sought will be accomplished 
within a few weeks from the time when such feeding be- 
gins To secure the same in ewes, they are usually put 
on rich and juicy pasture subsequently to the weaning of 
the lambs. The pasture is supplemented with a fairly liberal 
allowance of nutritious grain. For this purpose oats and 
barley have been found superior to corn or rye. Wheat 
also answers the purpose well. Rape pasture is particularly 
adapted to such feeding and if well advanced in growth, it 
may not be necessary to supplement it with any grain. The 
result with generously fed brood sows, subsequent to the 
weaning of the pigs, will be similar. 

When females are well nourished and yet do not come 
in heat, they may in some instances be made to breed by re- 
ducing the flesh in a considerable degree, through with- 
holding food and enforcing exercise, and then giving again 
enough of suitable food to commence again building up 
the reduced energies of the system. The success follow- 
ing will be dependent on the cause or causes that prevented 
the animals from breeding previously. 

Salt and its uses. — The desire for salt in nearly all 
classes of domestic animals is so strong as to amount to a 
craving, if it is withheld from them for any considerable 
period. That it serves an important end in the animal 
economy would seem to be thus indicated by nature. Swine 
seem to crave it less than other domestic animals, but they 
also profit by its moderate use. 

Salt is not a nutrient in the sense of furnishing food, 
nor is it certain that it adds directly to the digestibility of 
foods, as such, nevertheless, it plays an important part in 
sustaining the animal by the influence which it exerts on 
the digestive processes. When supplied in suitable quanti- 
ties, it increases the energy of the vital processes. It does 
so by facilitating the passage of albuminoids from the diges- 
tive tract into the blood, and by increasing the secretion of 
the juices of the body and quickening their circulation. In 
doing so, however, it increases protein consumption. ^ 



522 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

A second and important use of salt is the favorable in- 
fluence which it exerts upon the appetite. It renders foods 
more palatable and, therefore, when judiciously used in 
preparing them, increases their consumption. But, to feed 
quantities abnormally large would lead to harmful results 
as shown below. The craving for salt is influenced to some 
extent by natural location and also by the food. Animals 
grazed near the sea frequently secure a suflicient supply 
from the herbage upon which they feed. Relatively large 
quantities seem to be required by animals grazing on plants 
watery in character, as young grass and succulent rape. 

A third action of salt is to increase the excretion of 
urine, which may probably in part explain the craving for 
much salt by animals on watery food. This explains also 
why animals which are given much salt, drink much water. 
The consumption of much salt accompanied by an insuffi- 
cient supply of water, would result in diverting to the kid- 
leys water that would otherwise pass off through the 
organs of respiration, and in consequence there would be 
a more or less quick loss of weight. When abnormally 
large quantities of salt are taken, this is followed by the 
drinking of abnormally large quantities of water, which re- 
sults in a waste of nutrients in the body through increased 
protein consumption. Death has even resulted from al- 
lowing cows to drink large quantities of brine, which had 
been used in salting pork. 

It is particularly desirable, therefore, that domestic ani- 
mals shall be given enough salt at all times to meet their 
needs, and that they shall not be given an excess of the 
same. It is scarcely possible to adjust the amount of salt 
given to the exact needs of the animals in any other way 
than by giving them constant access to it, that they 
may take it at will. If supplied only at intervals, they 
take it to excess, but not otherwise, although it has been 
claimed that some horses will eat it in excess even under 
the conditions stated above. 



MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS 523 

That it would not be quite practicable in any other 
way to adjust exactly the amount of salt given to the needs 
of the animal will be apparent from the different amounts 
called for by animals of different classes, different 
ages, fed under different conditions as to performance, 
and on different kinds of food. It would not be quite pos- 
sible, therefore, to name amounts to be thus fed except in 
the most general way. The amount mentioned as suitable 
for a dairy cow is '^4 of an ounce per day, and for a steer 
of I, GOO pounds weight as i ounce per day when fattening 
begins, and an increase of the same up to more than i^ 
ounces before the finishing period. That the exact amounts 
of salt required cannot thus be perfectly adjusted, however, 
is not inconsistent with feeding salt in small quantities in 
the food to make it more appetizing, providing it is. not 
thus fed in excess of the needs of the animals. 

This is not the place to discuss the exact mode or 
modes of giving salt to animals. But it may be mentioned 
that the aim should he to have it accessible to them at all 
times, whether in the stall, the yard, the feed lot or in the 
pasture. It is given in the form of common salt or of rock 
salt. When given as common salt, it must be protected 
from rain, which dissolves it. The objections have, in some 
instances, been raised against rock salt that animals do 
not always get enough of it and that sometimes the process 
of licking it makes the tongue sore. 

Silage a varying quantity. — Corn silage is one of the 
most important fodders in feeding dairy 'cows, and that it 
will become more important relatively cannot be questioned. 
But in feeding it to cows and also to other stock the fact 
should not be overlooked that relatively its value varies so 
much, tiiat the character of its nutrients should be carefully 
taken into account when deciding upon the other food 
factors that shall be fed with it. These variations arise: 
(\) From the method of growth adopted; (2) from the de- 
gree of maturity at which the crop has been harvested; (3) 



524 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

from the proportionate amount of the grain which it con- 
tains, and (4) from the way in which it has been preserved 
in the silo. 

Tests conducted at different experiment stations have 
shown that the method of growth has a marked influence 
on the bulk product per acre. At the Illinois experiment 
station, it was found that corn grown with the stalks 3 
inches apart in the rows, the latter being 44 inches distant 
from one another, produced 4.8 tons of stover per acre, 
while corn with the stalks 9 inches apart in rows equally dis- 
tant produced but 3.1 tons. But with the former, the pro- 
portion of the stover to each pound of ears was ^.6 pounds, 
and with the latter 1.5 pounds. The difference, therefore, 
in the feeding value of equal quantities of silage grown thus 
will be at once apparent. 

The increase in the dry matter in corn between the 
milk and the grazing stage is very great. At the experiment 
station at Geneva, N. Y., it was found that the dry matter 
in an acre of corn increased from 4,643 pounds when in 
milk, to 7,202 pounds when glazed. When matured, the 
dry matter was 7,918 pounds. Since it is claimed that a 
pound of the dry substance of well matured ensilage has 
a higher nutritive value than at any previous period in its 
growth, the influence of maturity on the feeding value of 
ensilage will be apparent. In some localities, corn cannot 
be taken past the milk stage for ensilage because of early 
frosts. 

The proportionate amounts of grain and stover vary 
exceedingly in ensilage. Corn may be grown so thickly, 
that it will not province ears at all, and yet it may make 
good silage. Again, it may be grown so as to produce 
nubbins, varying from ears not much below the normal 
size down to very small. When grown to furnish a maxi- 
mum amount of ears, more than half the weight of the en- 
tire crop will be ears. Here again the difference in the 
feeding value of a pound of silage will be clearly evident. 
The bearing which this should have upon the amoimts of 



MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS 525 

grain or meal to feed with the silage should not be lost 
sight of, more especially when feeding large quantities of 
silage. 

Silage differs considerably in the degree of the acidity 
which characterizes it. The difference may be so much 
as to justify the use of the terms, "sweet" and "sour," as 
applied to silage, with all manner of gradations between 
these. The differences are usually owing in great part, 
at least, to a difference in the stage of maturity in the corn 
when it is put into the silo. In other words, it is owing to 
a difference in the amount of water which it contains. Corn 
so immature that it carries much water is likely to make 
sour ensilage, unless the quantity of this has been re- 
duced by wilting the corn. Sour ensilage cannot be fed 
with safety in quantities so large as sweet ensilage. 

Feeding miscellaneous products. — Certain products 
are occasionally fed as food to stock which do not constitute 
a part of any regular ration in prolonged feeding These in- 
clude eggs, weed seeds, sugar, oil of various kinds, and nuts. 
Certain other products are sometimes fed for a time with 
sundry kinds of food, to increase the supply of some ele- 
ment or elements lacking in the food. These include hard- 
wood ashes, charcoal and bone meal. 

Eggs contain all the essential elements of body growth. 
Although too valuable as human food to admit of their be- 
ing much fed to live stock, in some instances they are 
fed to calves in the uncooked form as a corrective to scours, 
and in other instances to improve the gloss of the coat. 
For both uses, other ingredients may be used that are less 
costly and even more effective. They are sometimes used 
also in feeding stallions undergoing the strain of severe 
service, and the benefit resulting will probably justify the 
outlay. 

Weed seeds are grown in large quantities in grain- 
growing areas of the Northwest. Usually they are sold as 
screenings and are largely used in feeding sheep, (see p. 
272). Many weed seeds are rich in oil, and because of this. 



526 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 

should not be fed without admixture. The seeds of foxtail 
{Alopecunis pratensis), more commonly called pigeon 
grass, usually constitute a principal portion of the weed 
seeds found in western grains. Experiments conducted at 
the Wisconsin experiment station showed that this food 
was not relished by swine when fed uncooked, that for such 
feeding it shovdd be both cooked and ground, and that when 
so fed along with 33 per cent of corn meal, it is a superior 
food to the latter when fed alone. All kinds of weed seeds 
should be ground for swine and also for cattle, otherwise 
many of them will escape digestion. 

Sugar, such as is used in the human dietary, but of 
lower grade, is oftentimes fed directly to live stock. When 
so fed it is commonly mixed with the grain or meal fed to 
them. Animals are very fond of it, and when fitting them 
for exhibition it not only aids in quick fattening but also 
improves the coat. Mixed with other food, it increases the 
consumption of the same. For ordinary fattening, it has a 
.place when not too costly, but it is thought to exert a dele- 
terious influence on the breeding powers of both males and 
females when fed to them in any considerable quantities, in 
prolonged feeding. 

Oil of various kinds has been tested in feeding differ- 
ent classes of stock. At the Massachusetts experiment sta- 
tion, it was found that very small quantities of some kinds 
of oil, as corn and cottonseed oil, could be fed to calves on 
milk with benefit, but when any considerable quantity was 
fed, indigestion followed. None of these are so completely 
satisfactory for feeding calves as ground flaxseed or oil 
cake. It has also been ascertained that the fat in milk can- 
not be permanently increased by feeding oil or tallow, even 
when fed to the extent of affecting adversely the appetite 
of the animals. 

Nuts, more especially acorns, in some areas furnish 
considerable quantities of food for swine. The same is 
true of beech nuts. These promote quick growth and rapid 
fattening when plentiful in supply, but the latter produce 



MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS 527 

oily pork. In order to firm it such animals should be fed 
for 20 to 30 days or even longer, on some such grain as 
corn, barley or peas. 

Ashes have been found highly useful in feeding swine 
that are much restricted to a diet of corn. In trials made 
at the Wisconsin experiment station, swine to which ashes 
were fed freely with a reasonable amount of salt added, 
the other food being corn meal, made increase much supe- 
rior to that made by swine fed on corn meal only, with salt 
added. The bones of the former were not only larger and 
stronger than those of the latter, but they contained fully 30 
per cent more ash. Foods other than corn and the sor- 
ghums usually supply potash in quantities sufficient to 
obviate the necessity of feeding ashes. 

Charcoal serves about the same use in feeding swine as 
wood ashes (see paragraph preceding). Swine, insuffi- 
ciently supplied with ash in the food, will consume con- 
siderable quantities of charcoal. This in corn-growing 
areas, and in these the principal need for such feeding ex- 
ists, may be cheaply supplied by charring corncobs in a 
hole in the ground of any convenient size, and covered with 
a metal cover, after the mass of cobs have become suffi- 
ciently aglow with flames coming up from beneath. Wood 
charcoal or charred corncobs may be most conveniently fed 
from self-feeders from which the swine mav partake at 
will. 

Bone meal when pure, fresh, and made from healthy 
animals, may be fed with profit under some conditions to 
both swine and cattle. It will serve about the same purpose 
in feeding swine as hard-wood ashes, when about one-third 
■of the quantity is fed. When cattle are much prone to 
chew bits of bone or wood, which happens in some in- 
stances, it indicates an insufficient supply of phosphates 
in the food. This deficiency may be made up by the ju- 
dicious feeding of bone meal. The necessity for such feed- 
ing, however, exists but seldom. 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Adaptation to requirement 

in animals 24 

Albuminoids discussed . . . 165 

Alfalfa hay 194 

For cattle 194 

For horses 195 

For sheep 195 

For swine 195 

For pasture 310 

Alfalmo, defined 194 

Analysis of foods not a 

complete guide 51 

Ash, discussion of 169 

Ashes, wood for stock .... 527 
Assimilation, principles that 

govern 89 

Balancing rations, informa- 
tion concerning 172 

Barley 232 

For calves and growing 

catttle 232 

For beef cattle 232 

For cows in milk 232 

For horses 233 

For sheep 233 

For swine 233 

Bean, common or field .... 243 

Horse 246 

Soy 244 

Hay 199 

Hay for cattle 199 

Hay for horses 200 

Hay for sheep 200 

Hay for swine 200 

Benefits from live stock . . 1 
Body heat, influences upon 81 
Bone development, influence 

of food upon 78 

Meal for stock 527 

Bran, wheat .f ^. . . 267 

For calves 267 

For cattle being fattened 268 

For cows in milk 268 

For horses 269 

For sheep 269 

For swine 269 

Breeding, food influences 

harmful to 122 

Food influences helpful to 122 

528 



PAGE 
Breeding — Continued. 

Too high flesh adverse . . 127 
Too immature harmful... 113 
When souglit too early . . 112 
Breeds, beef and dairy con- 
trasted 40 

Brewers' grains 272 

For cattle 273 

For horses 274 

For slieep 274 

For swine 274 

Broom corn seed 262 

Buckwlieat 239 

For cattle 240 

For horses 240 

For sheep 240 

For swine 240 

Buttermilk 294 

By-products of 

Barley 272 

Buckwheat 282 

Cereals, small 281 

Corn 278 

Cottonseed 282 

Flax 275 

Milk 289 

Miscellaneous 297 

Molasses 295 

Oats 281 

Peas 281 

Rice 282 

Rye 281 

Sugar beets 287 

Wheat 266 

Cabbage 340 

For cattle 340 

For horses 341 

For sheep 341 

For swine 341 

For pasture < 313 

Carbohydrates, influence of 

in food 168 

Discussed 168 

Carrots 331 

For cattle 331 

For horses 332 

For sheep 331 

For swine 332 

Cassava 338 



INDEX 



529 



PACIK 
Cassava — Continued. 

For cattle 338 

For horses, mules 3:{9 

For sheep 339 

For swine 339 

Cattle, difference in form 
between finished and 

unfinisliod 141 

Chaff, discussed 224 

Cliarcoal for stock 527 

Cheap foods and live stock 7 

Clov^er hay, varieties 192 

For cattle 192 

For horses 193 

For sheep 193 

For swine 193 

Clovers for pastures 308 

Alfalfa 310 

Alsike 309 

Bur 311 

Common red 308 

Crimson 310 

Japan 311 

Mammoth 309 

Small white 310 

Cocoanut meal 300 

Considerations relating to 
care of domestic ani- 
mals 476 

Relating to general feed- 
ing 443 

Relating to meat produc- 
tion 371 

Relating to milk produc- 
tion 409 

Miscellaneous in character 509 

Corn or maize 257 

For calves and growing 

cattle 260 

For cattle 260 

For cows in milk 260 

For horses 261 

For sheep 260 

For swine 261 

For pasture 314 

Fodder defined 211 

Shock 211 

Snapped 211 

Corn fodder 211 

For calves 213 

For cattle 213 

For horses 214 

For sheep 214 

For swine 214 

Cotton seed 251 

For calves 253 



PAGE 
Cotton seed — Continued. 

For cattle 251 

For cows in milk 252 

For sheep 253 

For swine 253 

Cottonseed meal 283 

For cattle 283 

For dairy cattle 284 

For horses 286 

For sheep 284 

For swine 285 

Hulls 286 

Cowpeas 247 

For cattle 247 

For horses 248 

For sheep 248 

For swine 248 

Cowpea hay 196 

Crude fibre 169 

Dairy cattle, type in 142 

Cows, indications of correct 

form and function 143 

Cows contrasted with 

sires 146 

Sires contrasted with 

cows 140 

Steers and production . . 39 
Dams, condition at birth of 

progeny 128 

Good condition during 

pregnancy 129 

Decadence discussed 8t 

Definitions in feeding ..., 164 
Dehorning cattle, benefits 

from 106 

Development and capacity 65 

And decadence 84 

And decrease in relative 

gains 62 

And food 74 

And inferiority 86 

And live stock 17 

And more food 64 

And ripeness 70 

And wasted energy .... 80 

In equilibrium 87 

Influences that retard ... 66 

Principles that govern . . 62 
Digestion, principles that 

govern 89 

Distillers' grains 274 

Domestic animals, care of 476 

Amount of exercise for . 505 

Amount of water for .... 483 

Dam at parturition 504 

Feeders, the 476 



530 



FEEDING FARA[ ANIMALS 



PAGE 
Domestic animals — Continued. 
Furnishing water to .... 486 
Preparing and using litter 500 
Protection for, in sum- 
mer 492 

Regularity in care of . . 479 
Season for breeding .... 502 
Slielter for, when young . 490 
Shelter from weaning on- 
ward 488 

Sources of litter for .... 496 

Temperature in stables 494 

Uses of litter for 498 

Water for 481 

Draught horses, scale of 

points 156 

Dried blood 298 

Flesh meal and meat scrap 298 
Dual purpose cows, correct 

form and function 148 

Dwarf Essex rape for 

pasture 312 

Eggs as food for stock . . . 525 
Elementary substances for 
growth in plants and 

animals 163 

Environment and live stock 32 

And selection 33 

The power of 33 

Equilibrium, foods in ap- 
proximate 46 

Changes in 46 

Foods not in 48 

In foods, age variation in 47 

In food constituents .... 43 

Influences that disturb 45 
Exercise, amount of for 

pregnant animals ...... 126 

And pregnancy 125 

And usefulness 116 

Injury from lack of .... 117 

Farm life and live stock 20 

Fat, discussion of 167 

Feeding, general . .^ 443 

Adjusting foods in 461 

Changing foods when .... 459 

Condimental foods 469 

First milk 445 

Food for maintenance . . 447 
Foods, home grown or 

purchased 463 

Foods that vary in adap- 
tation 450 

Foods that influence di- 

^.^ gestion favorably .... 452 



PAGE 

Feeding — Continued. 

For growth and future 

production 449 

Generous, during preg- 
nancy 443 

High pressure, injures 

cows 115 

Moderate 115 

Of concentrates 454 

Place for self-feeders in 471 
Proportion of concen- 
trates to roughage in . . 456 
Relative food values .... 465 
Relative profits from do- 
mestic animals in .... 473 
Sustaining power of pas- 
tures for 467 

Standard 180 

Standard, calculation of a. 181 

Standards discussed 183 

Standards, influences that 
affect varying results in. 187 

Stuffs, tables of 173 

Fertility and live stock .... 2 

Field beans 243 

For cattle 243 

For horses 244 

For sheep 244 

For swine 244 

Roots and corn compared. 323 

Roots, discussed 324 

Fish scrap 299 

Flax 249 

For cattle 250 

For horses 251 

For sheep 251 

For swine 251 

Flour, red dog 271 

Fodder 211 

Broom corn 218 

Corn 211 

.Jerusalem corn and durra 218 
Non-saccharine sorghum. 217 

Pearl millet 218 

Sorghum 215 

Straw 219 

Teosinte 219 

Fodders 191 

Chaffing and shredding . 360 
Excessive loss of mois- 
ture in 353 
Influence of dew and rain 
upon 352 



INDEX 



531 



PAGK 
Pood, influencing transmis- 
sion 42 

And foetal development 124 

And pregnancy 124 

Factor defined 165 

From by-products 265 

From cereals and other 

seeds 225 

From cured fodders 191 

From field roots and 

tubers 323 

From pastures 302 

Influences of on meat pro- 
duction 74 

Influences of on milk pro- 
duction 76 

Nutrient defined 164 

Or feeding ration defined 171 
Of maintenance increases 

with age 63 

Requirements and growth 53 
Foods, nitrogenous con- 
stituents of 165 

Blending chemically .... 364 
Blending mechanically . . 362 
Bulk and concentration in. 52 
Bulky, and concentrated 53 

Cooking for stock 366 

Curing, dry 352 

Curing, green 350 

Influence of cost on meat 

and milk 65 

Influence on development 

and production 60 

Influence on other 52 

Necessity for variety in . 58 
Non-nitrogenous constitu- 
ents of 166 

Relative manurial value 

of 61 

Soaking for stock 365 

Storing 353 

Suitability for end 

sought 59 

Value in 59 

Variety in 57 

Form and function in dairy 

cows 143 

And function in dual pur- 
pose cows 148 

Gluten feed 280 

Meal 278 

For cattle 279 

For horses 280 



PAGE 

Gluten meal — Continued. 

For sheep 279 

For swine 280 

Grain, grinding or crushing 355 

Grasses, influences of, on 

bone of horses 7 9 

For pasture 304 

Bermuda 306 

Crab 308 

Johnson 308 

Kentucky blue 304 

Meadow fescue 307 

Orchard 30i 

Quack 308 

Redtop 306 

Russian brome 305 

Tall oat 307 

Timothy 305 

Western rye 305 

Growth and food required. . . 53 

Habit, influences of, on di- 
gestion 91 

Modifications of, on di- 
gestion 92 

Modifications, not equally 
easy 94 

Handling domestic animals 

defined 30 

Hay from grasses other 

than timothy 202 

Barley s 207 

Bermuda 205 

Canadian blue grass 204 

Cereals mixed 207 

Kentucky blue grass 204 

Meadow fescue 203 

Millet 209 

Oats and vetches 208 

Oats, peas and vetches . . 208 

Oats 207 

Orchard grass 203 

Peas and vetches 207 

Peas and oats 208 

Redtop 203 

Russian brome 203 

Rye 206 

Small grains 205 

Speltz 206 

Tall oat grass 203 

Western rye grass 204 

Wheat 206 

Wheat, oats, barley and 

flax 209 

Wild prairie 205 



532 



FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



PAGE 
Health, conditions of good 34 
Indications and live stock 34 
Indications of prospective 

good 36 

Horse bean 246 

For cattle 246 

For horses 247 

For sheep 246 

For swine 246 

Horses, drauglit, scale of 

points 156 

Light, scale of points . . . 159 
Industry and live stock .... 14 
Inferiority and pre-natal in- 
fluences 86 

Influences affecting palata- 

bility 515 

Inheritance in selecting ani- 
mals 26 

Insects that cause unrest . . 103 
Irregularity in caring for 

stock 101 

Jerusalem artichokes 336 

For cattle 336 

For horses 338 

For sheep 337 

For swine 337 

Kafir corn seed 255 

For cattle 255 

For horses 256 

For sheep 255 

For swine 256 

Kale for pasture 313 

Labor and live stock 11 

When excessive in the 

horse 105 

Litter, sources of 496 

Uses of 498 

Maintaining equilibrium in 

fertility 4 

Malt sprouts 274 

Mangels 324 

For cattle 325 

For horses 326 

For sheep 325 

For swine 326 

Marketing promptly when 

ripe 73 

Meat production 371 

Baby beef in 402 

Cost of increase in 381 

Duration of finishing pe- 
riod in 385 

Feeding in stalls, sheds 
or yards for 394 



PAGE 
Meat production — Continued. 
Financial returns from 

purchased feeders in . . 400 
Finishing on pastures for 396 
Food consunied' and in- 
crease 379 

Gains wlien fattening not 
worth their cost in .... 382 

Growing bacon 406 

Increase at different ages 

in 371 

Increase during finisliing 

period in 374 

Leading up to full feed- 
ing in 377 

Loss of weight in market- 
ing for 392 

Marketing when ripe in . . 389 
Season for marketing in. . 387 
Shipping finislied animals 

in 391 

Winter lambs in 404 

Middlings and shorts from 

wheat 270 

Milk, influence of succulence 

upon production of 56 

Undesirable flavors in.... 78 

Production 409 

Age and relative milk giv- 
ing capacity in 435 

Breeds and 427 

Composition of milk in. . 411 
Feeding grain to cows on 

pasture in 440 

Foods and 413 

Formation of milk in .... 409 

Lactation and 429 

Large and small cows for 433 

Cost and 416 

Protection for cows in 

summer for 436 

Quality in 424 

Quantity in 418 

Siielter for cows in winter 

for 438 

Millet seed 262 

For calves and growing 

cattle 263 

For cattle being fattened 263 

For cows in milk 263 

For horses 264 

For sheep 263 

For swine 264 

Miscellaneous considerations 

in feeding live stock . . 509 



INDEX 



533 



PAGE 
Miscellaneous — Continued. 
Feeding for quick concep- 
tion 520 

Feeding subsequent to 

weaning 518 

Feeding miscellaneous 

products 525 

Molasses 295 

For cattle 296 

For horses 297 

For sheep 297 

For swine 297 

Muscular exertion 171 

Nitrogen equilibrium 167 

Nitrogenous substances .... 170 

Non-saccharine fodders 217 

For cattle 217 

For horses 218 

For sheep 2.17 

For swine 218 

Nutritive ratio 177 

Nuts as food for stock .... 526 

Oats 228 

For calves and growing 

cattle 229 

For beef cattle 230 

For cows in milk 230 

For horses 231 

For sheep 230 

For swine 231 

Oil cake and oil meal .... 275 
Cake, old and new proc- 
ess 275 

Cake for cattle 276 

Cake for horses 278 

Cake for sheep 277 

Cake for swine 278 

Oil as food for stock 526 

Palatability, importance of 51 
Pasturing and fertility ... 6 
Pasturing plants of Brassica 

family 311 

Cabbage 313 

Dwarf Essex rape 312 

Kale 313 

Saccharine and non-sac- 
charine 313 

Sorghums, hazard from . . 314 
Pastures from small cereals 315 

And fertilization 322 

Avoid close grazing in 

autumn 320 

Care of 321 

From winter rye 316 

Grazing of 318 



PAGK 
Pastures — Continued. 

Improved by drainage . . 322 
Leading grasses for .... 304 

Sources of 302 

Bermuda 306 

Crab grass 308 

.Tohnson grass 308 

Kentucky blue grass .... 304 

aieadow fescue 307 

orchard grass 307 

Quack grass 308 

Redtop 306 

Russian brome 305 

Tall oat grass 307 

Timothy 305 

Western rye grass 305 

Leading clovers for 308 

Alfalfa 310 

Alsike 309 

Bur 311 

Common red 308 

Crimson 310 

Japan 311 

Mammoth 309 

Small white 310 

Palmnut meal 301 

Pea, Canada 236 

Cow 247 

Peanut meal 300 

Peanuts 345 

For cattle 345 

For horses 346 

For sheep 346 

For swine 346 

Peas 236 

For calves and growing 

cattle 237 

For beef cattle 237 

For cows in milk 237 

For horses 239 

For sheep 237 

Foi swine 2.38 

Potatoes, Irish 332 

For cattle 333 

For horses 334 

For sheep 333 

For swine 334 

Potatoes, sweet 334 

For cattle 335 

For horses 336 

For sheep 335 

For swine 336 

Pregnancy, principles relat- 
ing to 121 

And exercise 125 



534 



FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



PAGE 
Pregnancy — Continued. 

And food 124 

And good flesh 126 

And impregnation 123 

And nursing 128 

And time of mating .... 121 
Influenced by food and ex- 
ercise 121 

Influenced by parents .... 123 
Preparing foods for feeding 350 
Prepotency, guarantees of 

desirable ^ ' 

Definition of desirable . . 38 
Preventing soil depletion . . 3 
Principal points in cattle 

for feeding 139 

In sheep for feeding 151 

In swine for feeding ... 153 
Objectionable in cattle 

for feeding 1*0 

Principles that govern feed- 
ing 1^^ 

Governing selecting foods 43 
Relating to restfulness . 96 
Relating to prolonged use- 
fulness lly 

Relating to pregnancy .. l^i 
That govern selecting ani- 

That govern development 62 
That govern habit in di- 
gestion and assimila- 
tion ^l 

Profits from live stock .... 2 

Protein consumption 16" 

Production influenced by 
bulky and concentrated 

foods • ^^^ 

Deferred and usefulness 110 
When sought too early . . 112 
Protection from cold and 

storms 

Differs with ^different 

classes -•'• ^ 

When excessive '*" 

Pumpkins l^l 

For cattle ^^ 

For horses t] 

For sheep ^^ 

For swine 

Quality in live stock 29 

In beef cattle ^^ 

In dairy cattle ^^ 

In horses ^^ 

In sheep 



PAGE 
Quality in live stock — Continual. 

In swine 31 

Relation between farming 

and live stock 3 

Relative importance of in- 
heritance and type or 

form 29 

Restfulness, principles re- 
lating to 96 

Ripeness in meat-making 70 
Methods of determining . 71 
Roots, pulping and slicing. . 359 
Rotation and live stock.... 5 
Rutabagas and turnips .... 328 

For cattle 329 

For horses 330 

For sheep 330 

For swine 330 

Rye 234 

For calves and growing 

cattle 234 

For beef cattle 235 

For cows in milk 235 

For horses 237 

For sheep 235 

For swine 236 

Salt and its uses 521 

Scrub steers and produc- 
tion 39 

Sheep, injury from chasing 107 
Principal points in feed- 
ing 151 

Objectionable points for 

feeding 153 

Shorts and middlings 270 

Silage a varying quantity.. 523 

Silo, the 350 

Skim milk ■■■ V III 

And supplementary foods. 29^ 
Sorghum seed, non-sacchar- 

i"e ••■•• ^54 

Seed, sweet -^o* 

Fodder ^^^ 

Fodder for cattle 215 

Fodder for horses 216 

Fodder for sheep 216 

Fodder for swine 216 

Sorghums, saccharine and 

non-saccharine 313 

244 
Soy beans ' 

For cattle ^*^ 

For horses ^*^ 

For sheep 



INDEX 



535 



Soy beans — Continued. 

For swine 245 

Speltz 241 

For calves and growing 

cattle 241 

For cattle 245 

For cows in milk 242 

For horses 242 

For sheep 242 

For swine 242 

Squash 343 

For cattle 344 

For horses 345 

For sheep 344 

For swine 344 

Standards for selecting ani- 
mals 26 

Steers, scrub production. . . 39 
Dairy and production ... 39 

Straw, influence affecting 

value of 219 

Difference in composition 220 

For stock 221 

Barley 222 

Bean 222 

Flax 222 

Oat 222 

Pea 222 

Rye 221 

Speltz 221 

Wheat 222 

Succulence and milk pro- 
duction 55 

And reproduction 56 

Succulent foods, list of. ... 57 

Sugar as food for stock . . 526 

Beet pulp 287 

Beet pulp for cattle 288 

Beet pulp for horses 289 

Beet pulp for sheep 288 

Beet pulp for swine 288 

Beets 327 

Beets for cattle 327 

Beets for horses 328 

Beets for sheep 328 

Beets for swine 328 

Sundry meals 300 

Sunflower cake and meal.. 300 
Seed 253 

Swine, principal points in 

feeding 153 

Points objectionable for 
feeding 154 

Table of feeding stuffs dis- 
cussed 173 



PACK 
Tables of feeding stuffs 

only general guides .... 174 
Table I, giving nutrients 

and digestible foods . . 174 
Table II, giving dry matter, 
digestible food ingre- 
dients, and fuel value in 

foods 178 

Table III, giving feeding 

standards 184 

Tankage 297 

Timothy hay 200 

For cattle 201 

For horses 202 

For sheep 201 

For swine 201 

Tops of roots and tubers . . 347 

Of carrots 348 

Of mangels 347 

Of peanuts and artichokes 349 

Of sweet potatoes 348 

Of sugar beets 348 

Of turnips 348 

Transportation of live stock. 8 
Transmission and breeding 

habit 41 

Fat in milk 41 

Influence of on digestion. 38 

Live stock 37 

Quality 40 

Wool production 41 

Tuberculosis at Rockland, 

Ontario 35 

Type or form in selecting 

animals 27 

A basis of classification. . . 135 

And form contrasted 27 

And form, discussed 133 

And scale of points .... 135 

And score cards 135 

And standards of excel- 
lence 135 

Extent to which sought . 134 

In dairy cattle 142 

In domestic animals 133 

In draught horses 156 

In dual purpose cattle . . 148 
In general purpose horses 161 

In light horses 159 

In relation to horses .... 155 
In relation to cattle .... 137 
In relation to cattle for 

feeding 138 

In sheep for feeding .... 151 
In swine for feeding. ... 153 



536 



FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



PAGE 
Type — Continued. 

Modified by condition.... 136 
Only general in showing 

use 134 

Valuable as indication of 

utility 134 

Unrest and improper feed- 
ing 98 

And undue exposure 97 

And insect pests 102 

And irregularity 101 

And labor 104 

And methods of prevent- 
ing sexual desire 108 

And vicious animals 106 

From lack of litter 100 

From sexual desire 107 

Usefulness, age limit, not 

fixable 119 

And exercise 116 

And moderate feeding . . 115 

Deferred and production. 110 

Extent of prolonged .... 118 

Period of highest 85 

Principles of 110 



PAGE 
Usefulness — Continued. 

Prolonged benefits from. 110 

Variations in weights 514 

Vetch hay 197 

Vetches 248 

For cattle 198 

For horses and mules. . . . 200 

For sheep 198 

For swine 198 

Weed seeds as food for 

stock 525 

Weight of animals at birth 511 
Weigh scale an educator. . . 509 

Wheat 225 

Contrasted with corn 228 

For calves 226 

For beef cattle 226 

For cows in milk 226 

For horses 227 

For sheep 227 

For swine 227 

Frosted 271 

Screenings 272 

Whey 295 

Winter rye for pasture .... 316 



STANDARD BOOKS 



PUBLISHED BY. 



ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 

NEW YORK CHICAGO 

X2 & ^^ Lafayette Place Margtcette Building 



JDOOKS sent to all parts of the world for catalog 
price. Discounts for large quantities on appli- 
cation. Correspondence invited. Brief descriptive 
catalog free. Large ilhtstrated catalog, j' «• cents : : : 



The Cereals in America 

By Thomas F. Hunt, M.S., D. Agr. If you raise five 
acres of any kind of grain you cannot afford to be without this 
book. It is in every way the best book on the subject that has 
ever been written. It treats of the cultivation and improve- 
ment of every grain crop raised in America in a thoroughly 
practical and accurate manner. The subject matter includes a 
comprehensive and succinct treatise of wheat, maize, oats, 
barley, rye, rice, sorghum (kafir corn), and buckwheat, as 
related particularly to American conditions. Fl.jt-hand knowl- 
edge has been the policy of the author in his work, and every 
crop treated is presented in the light of individual study of 
the plant. If you have this book you have the latest and best 
that has been written upon the subject. Illustrated. 450 pages. 
51-2x8 inches. Cloth $1.75 

The Potato 

By Samuel Frazer. A reliable guide on the cultivation of 
the potato, its development, manuring and fertilizing, planting, 
tillage, sprays and spraying, breeding new varieties, harvesting, 
storing, marketing, etc., etc. Taken all in all it is the most 
iomplete, reliable and autlioritative work on the potato ever 
published in America. Illustrated! 200 pages. 5x7 inches. 
Cloth $0.75 



Farm Grasses of the United States of America 

By William Jasper Spillman. A practical treatise on 
the grass crop, seeding and management of meadows and 
pastures, description of the best varieties, the seed and its 
impurities, grasses for special conditions, lawns and lawn 
grasses, etc., etc. In preparing this volume the author's object 
has been to present, in connected form, the main facts con- 
cerning the grasses grown on American farms. Every phase 
of the subject is viewed from the farmer's standpoint. Illus- 
trated. 248 pages, 5x7 inches. Cloth. , . . $1.00 

The Book of Corn 

By Herbert Myrick, assisted by A. D. Shamel, E. A. 
Burnett, Albert W. Fulton, B. W. Snow, and other most 
capable specialists. A complete treatise on the culture, 
marketing and uses of maize in America and elsewhere, for 
farmers, dealers and others. Illustrated. 372 pages. 5x7 
inches. Cloth. $1.50 

The Hop — Its Culture and Care, Marketing 

and Manufacture 

By Herbert Myrick. A practical handbook on the most 
approved methods in growing, harvesting, curing and selling 
hops, and on the use and manufacture of hops. The result of 
years of research and observation, it is a volume destined to be 
an authority on this crop for many years to come. It takes up 
every detail from preparing the soil and laying out the yard, 
to curing and selling the crop. Every line represents the 
ripest judgment and experience of experts. Size, 5x8; pages, 
300; illustrations, nearly 150; bound in cloth and gold; price, 
postpaid, $1.50 

Tobacco Leaf 

By J. B. Killebrew and Herbert Myrick. Its Culture 
and Cure, Marketing and Manufacture. A practical handbook 
on the most approved methods in growing, harvesting, curing, 
packing and selling tobacco, with an account of the opera- 
tions in every department of tobacco manufacture. The 
contents of this book are based on actual experiments in field, 
curing barn, packing house, factory and laboratory. It is the 
only work of the kind in existence, and is destined to be the 
standard practical and scientific authority on the whole sub- 
ject of tobacco for many years. 506 pages and 150 original 
engravings. 5x7 inches. Cloth $2.00 



Animal Breeding 

By Thomas Shaw. This book is the most complete and 
comprehensive work ever published on the subject of which 
it treats. It is the first book which has systematized the subject 
of animal breeding. The leading laws which govern this 
most intricate question the author has boldly defined and 
authoritatively arranged. The chapters which he has written 
on the more involved features of the subject, as sex and the 
relative influence of parents, should go far toward setting at 
rest the wildly speculative views cherished with reference to 
these questions. The striking originality in the treatment of 
the subject is no less conspicuous than the superb order and 
regular sequence of thought from the beginning to the end 
of the book. The book is intended to meet the needs of all 
persons interested in the breeding and rearing of live stock. 
Illustrated. 405 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . $1.50 

Forage Crops Other Than Grasses 

By Thomas Shaw. How to cultivate, harvest and use 
them. Indian corn, sorghum, clover, leguminous plants, crops 
of the brassica genus, the cereals, millet, field roots, etc. 
Intensely practical and reliable. Illustrated. 287 pages. 5x7 
inches. Cloth. $1.00 

Soiling Crops and the Silo 

By Thomas Shaw. The growing and feeding of all kinds 
of soiling crops, conditions to which they are adapted, their 
plan in the rotation, etc. Not a line is repeated from the 
Forage Crops book. Best methods of building the silo, filling 
it and feeding ensilage. Illustrated. 364 pages. 5x7 inches. 
Cloth $1.50 

The Study of Breeds 

By Thomas Shaw. Origin, history, distribution, charac- 
teristics, adaptability, uses, and standards of excellence of all 
pedigreed breeds of cattle, sheep and swine in America. The 
accepted text book in colleges, and the authority for 
farmers and breeders. Illustrated. 371 pages. 5x7 inches. 
Cloth $1.50 

Profits in Poultry 

Useful and ornamental breeds and their profitable man- 
agement. This excellent work contains the combined expe- 
rience of a number of practical men in all departments of 
poultry raising. It forms a unique and important addition to 
our poultry literature. Profusely illustrated. 352 pages. 5x7 
inches. Cloth $1.00 



Farmer's Cyclopedia 
of Ag(riculture ^ ^ 

A Compendium of Agricultural Science and PraSlice 
on Farm, Orchard and Garden Crops, and the 
Feeding and Diseases of Farm Animals 

'By EARLEY VERNON WILCOX, Ph.D 
and CLARENCE BEAMAN SMITH, M.S 

Associate Editors in the Office of Experiment Slaliotis, United States 
Department of Agriculture 



THIS is a new, practical, and complete pres- 
entation of the whole subject of agricul- 
ture in its broadest sense. It is designed 
for the use of agriculturists who de- 
sire up-to-date, reliable information on 
all matters pertaining to crops and stock, but 
more particularly for the actual farmer. The 
volume contains 

Detedled directions for the culture of every 
important field, orchard, and garden crop 

grown in America, together with descriptions of 
their chief insect pests and fungous diseases, and 
remedies for their control. It contains an ac- 
count of modern methods in feeding and handling 
all farm stock, including poultry. The diseases 
which affect different farm animals and poultry 
are described, and the most recent remedies sug- 
gested for controlling them. 

Every bit of this vast mass of new and useful 
information is authoritative, practical, and easily 
found, and no effort has been spared to include 
all desirable details. There are between 6,000 
and 7,000 topics covered in these references, and 
it contains, 700 royal 8vo pages and nearly 500 
suberb half-tone and other original illustrations, 
making the most perfect Cyclopedia of Agricul- 
ture ever attempted. 

Handjomely bound in cloth, ^3.50; half morocco 
{•Cery jamptaouj), ^4-. SO. postpaid 

ORANGE JUDD OOMPANY, 5.2 Lafaye.t_e Place. N.ew York. N, V 



Marquette BKildinQ, Ch'cago, III. 



AUU 28 1907 




"V, 



\\., 



